April 4: Back in Istanbul
Istikial Caddesi — a walking street

Beyoglu (BEY-oh-loo) is the district on the north bank of the Golden Horn, from Karakoy (Galata) and the Galata Bridge to Taksim Square.

In the 1800s this was the newer, more European section of Istanbul (Constantinople). Embassies were built here, foreign merchants lived and worked here, and they shopped at the posh boutiques along the Grande Rue de Péra, now called Istiklal Caddesi.

This was also one of the neighborhoods favored by the sultan's Jewish subjects and still has many beautiful small synagogues.

At the southern end of Istiklal Caddesi is a Whirling Dervish hall in which the Mevlevi dervishes still whirl.

Today Beyoglu is enjoying a cultural and architectural revival. The huge embassies are now consulates, the shops are posh again, and Istiklal Caddesi (the Grande Rue) is a popular pedestrian mall filled with strollers day and night. The pedestrian avenue and its side streets boast lots of nightlife: chic cafe-bars, bistros, restaurants and music clubs.