Istiklal Street

Visit Istiklal Street, located in the Beyoğlu & Taksim area — one of the most famous pedestrian avenues in Istanbul, visited by thousands of people every day. Located in the bohemian Beyoğlu district, it is an elegant pedestrian street approximately three kilometres long, which houses exquisite boutiques, music stores, bookstores, art galleries, cinemas, theatres, libraries, cafés, pubs, night clubs with live music, historical patisseries, chocolatiers and restaurants. The avenue starts from the medieval Genoese neighbourhood around Galata Tower and ultimately leads up to Taksim Square.

This cosmopolitan avenue is surrounded by an array of historically and politically significant buildings, such as the Çiçek Pasajı (Flower Passage) where small, intimate restaurants and taverns are found; the Balık Pazarı (Fish Market); the Roman Catholic Church of St. Antoine, designed in Italian Gothic style and dated 1913; the Aya Triada Church, a Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity overlooking Taksim Square; and the Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary Draperis, built in 1678.

The street is also lined with academic institutions established by various European nations such as Austria, France, Germany and Italy in the early 19th century, and with consulates — former embassies before 1923 — of several nations including France, Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.