Istiklal Avenue and Taksim Square
It was a warm, sunny day - perfect for a stroll along one of the most famous streets in Istanbul, İstiklal Avenue. İstiklal is the Turkish word for “independence,” and the avenue commemorates the birth of the Turkish Republic on October 29, 1923.
The wide pedestrian street started at Galata, right near our hotel. It was lined with Ottoman-era buildings in a variety of styles - Neo-Classical, Renaissance Revival, Art Nouveau, et al. The buildings and balconies and the festive lights spanning the avenue overhead reminded me of Kärntner Straße in Vienna.
Anyone in search of food, entertainment, or shopping could find just about anything on Istiklal Avenue! There were restaurants, cafés, patisseries, and ice cream shops; pubs and nightclubs; art galleries, bookstores, music stores, and clothing stores.
We resisted the baklava and other tempting treats in the patisserie windows and found a proper restaurant for lunch. We didn’t mind the tourist prices - the dining room was pretty, and the food was delicious!
In the center of the street, a vintage electric tram ran on rails. The cars were original, dating back to the 1910s and 1920s, and had been restored in the 1980s. Tourists seemed to love the “Nostalgia Tramway,” but we preferred to walk.
Soon Istiklal Avenue converged with several other streets at Taksim Square. Here, we found the imposing Taksim Mosque and the Republic Monument, commemorating the 5th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. The monument sat at the center of small, round park, but it was fenced off and inaccessible.
As we walked back along Istiklal Avenue toward our hotel, we noticed several consulates (French, Dutch, Russian, and Swedish) - most with a police presence out front. We also stopped to peek inside the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, the largest Catholic church in Istanbul. The beautiful church sat back from Istiklal Avenue, almost hidden behind a Venetian-style apartment building.
For years, vibrant Istiklal Avenue was the venue for large community events like the Istanbul Pride Parade and the International Women’s Day Parade. Unfortunately, gatherings like this have been banned “for security reasons” since the Gezi Park protests of 2013. Istiklal is still a buzzing hub of commerce, but it is no longer a place where Turkish people can celebrate the independence that the street is named for.
