{"id":1924,"date":"2019-04-27T13:26:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-27T13:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dndtour.com\/?p=1924"},"modified":"2019-04-27T13:26:18","modified_gmt":"2019-04-27T13:26:18","slug":"galata-and-the-galata-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dndtour.com\/en\/galata-and-the-galata-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Galata and the Galata Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Galata and the Galata Bridge<\/h1>\n

Its name was “Sykai” (Fig field) during the\u00a0Byzantine\u00a0period. It also was called “Peran en Sykais” in Greek, which means fig field of the other side. Its name “Pera” which was used by the Levantines came from this origin. The origin of Galata was either “galaktos” (milk) in Greek or “calata” (stairway) in Italian.<\/p>\n

Galata<\/a> is on the European side of\u00a0Istanbul\u00a0both geographically and culturally. It was established as a western, Latin and Catholic colony right next to Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Orthodox\u00a0Byzantine Empire<\/strong>. Its governments changed hands between Venetians and Genoese, but it always remained Latin and Catholic. This did not change after the\u00a0conquest of Istanbul<\/strong>. However, Sultan\u00a0Mehmed the Conqueror<\/strong>\u00a0made this a residential area for Greeks and\u00a0Jews. Even though this made Galata a non-Latin place, it was still a non-Muslim\u00a0area next to the capital ofIslam.<\/p>\n

Therefore, “the other side” does not only mean the other side of\u00a0Golden Horn<\/strong>, but it also means other side culturally. Sometimes the people of Galata sided with the enemies of\u00a0Istanbul<\/strong>. The first time Galata betrayed the locals was when the Latin\u00a0Crusades<\/strong>\u00a0occupied\u00a0Istanbul<\/strong>\u00a0in 1204. Galata helped the Latins during this occupation, and\u00a0Istanbul<\/strong>\u00a0was pillaged by Latins. That incident was one of the reasons of the decline of the\u00a0Byzantine Empire.<\/p>\n

Galata was not faithful to the\u00a0Ottoman Empire\u00a0either. Galata was an important center to govern the “capitulations” which caused the decline of the\u00a0Ottoman Empire. The Empire had a large debt from Galata’sbankers\u00a0since the beginning of the 19th century and that\u00a0economically\u00a0pillaged the\u00a0Empire. Also Greek\u00a0bankers\u00a0of Galata supported Greece in its independence from the\u00a0Empire.<\/p>\n

Galata has been a very active business center since its establishment. It also was a night-life center with its taverns which attracted the\u00a0Muslim\u00a0population, too. But Galata<\/a> lived its golden years during the second half of the 19lh century. Foreigners and minorities gained some new rights with\u00a0sultan\u00a0Abdulmecid’s political reforms of 1839 in addition to the\u00a0capitulations.This quickly created wealth and enhancement for Galata.<\/p>\n

In 1860 the area inside the Genoese walls was not large enough for Galata. So, the walls were destroyed and Galata was enlarged and Istiklal Street (of today) and “Grand Rue de Pera”, called by\u00a0Levantines, became a luxury district. First, there were\u00a0foreign embassies\u00a0and\u00a0churches<\/strong>. Then, big houses, luxury apartments, shopping centers, and entertainment and\u00a0art\u00a0centers were built on Istiklal Street. Residential houses followed this. The people called this area “Beyoglu<\/strong>” which was an enlarged Galata called “Pera” by\u00a0Levantines.<\/p>\n

In a short period the infrastructure problems of the new district were solved. Streets were covered by rocks, sewage systems were enlarged, electricity, water, and natural gas networks were laid down, and trams pulled by horses were put into service for public transportation. Most important of all, the second oldest metro of the world was opened in Galata.<\/p>\n

Galata was a finance center with its\u00a0bankers\u00a0and stock exchange. Its harbor was one of the busiest harbors of Europe. The Grand Rue de Pera or Cadde-i Kebir became a shopping center second only to the\u00a0Grand Bazaar<\/strong>. The imported European goods were bought not only by\u00a0Levantines\u00a0but also by western sympathizers. It was also an entertainment center with its cafes, theaters, bars, opera houses,\u00a0restaurants, and pastry shops.\u00a0Ottomans\u00a0liked the way of living in Pera so much. So, Galata became a kind of school for\u00a0Ottoman\u00a0politicians who sympathized with the western way of life. Because the\u00a0Ottoman\u00a0people were learning how to eat, drink, dress, entertain, and talk like westerners from the\u00a0Levantines\u00a0and Europeans in\u00a0Beyoglu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Galata<\/a> was a cosmopolis. Mainly French, but also almost all other European languages were spoken there. Italians, Germans, French, British, Armenians, Greeks,\u00a0Jews<\/strong>, Hungarians, Poles, and Russians had their own communities. Each community had its own places of worship, not only based on its religion but also based on its different sects. Therefore, many\u00a0churches<\/strong>\u00a0and synagogues of different groups were located close to each other.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that the existence of many\u00a0Muslim\u00a0people and places in Galata like Galata\u00a0Mevlevi<\/strong>\u00a0Convent, Arab\u00a0Mosque, Asmali\u00a0Mosque\u00a0and Aga\u00a0Mosque, these were hardly enough to change the Galata’s Western characteristics.<\/p>\n

There were also many foreign education centers in Galata; French, British, Italians, Germans, and Austrians opened\u00a0high schools\u00a0in Galata. The rich and noble\u00a0muslim\u00a0families, along with the\u00a0Levantines\u00a0and minorities, sent their children to those schools. Most of the\u00a0Ottoman\u00a0and Turkish scholars were educated in those schools.<\/p>\n

Galata was always different. It did not even share the same faith with other districts of\u00a0Istanbul. While\u00a0Istanbul\u00a0was in poverty and political chaos during the Balkan War, Galata was experiencing its golden age. The spoils of World War I flowed to Galata. Beyoglu was revived by the arrival of White Russians who escaped from the October Revolution of Russia. Its entertainment life was always good. This place was the primary entertainment center for the foreign forces while\u00a0Istanbul\u00a0was under occupation. But after the war, during the first years of the republic, the gorgeous Pera of\u00a0Levantines\u00a0slowly declined.<\/p>\n

In the late 80’s and 90’s Galata district became an important cultural center again for the local people of\u00a0Istanbul\u00a0and foreigners. There are beautiful old houses and buildings, cafes,\u00a0restaurants, local markets and colorful atmosphere. Today Galata is known as the district of\u00a0Jews\u00a0and foreigners who live in\u00a0Istanbul.<\/p>\n

Galata Tower<\/strong>\u00a0is the most impressive monument from the old tissue of the district, there is a great view of the city from the top.<\/p>\n

Pera Palas Hotel<\/strong>, once used by the travelers of the\u00a0Orient Express, is also in the Galata district. The room where Agatha Christie stayed is the most popular room for the guests.\u00a0Atat\u00fcrk\u00a0also stayed for some time in this fantastic hotel, today his room is a kind of small museum. Pera Palas is closed at the moment for restorations, but there are other\u00a0special category hotels\u00a0in Galata neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The Galata Bridge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bridges have a special fascination for people and tend to acquire their own stories and legends. This is true of\u00a0Istanbul<\/strong>, where bridges have found their way intofolklore\u00a0and become a treasured feature of the urban landscape.<\/p>\n

Therefore to treat the Galata Bridge<\/a> over the\u00a0Golden Horn<\/strong>\u00a0merely from the historic angle would be misleading. This bridge has not only been a means of getting from one side of the waterway to the other, but like a fellow citizen has had symbolic and spiritual significance in people’s lives. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in\u00a0Turkish literature; in theater, poetry and novels. Above all in the latter medium there is hardly a novelist, including H\u00fcseyin Rahmi G\u00fcrpinar and Ahmet Rasim, who has not mentioned this bridge.<\/p>\n

The oldest recorded bridge in\u00a0Istanbul<\/strong>\u00a0was built over the\u00a0Golden Horn\u00a0in 1453 during the\u00a0Turkish siege<\/strong>\u00a0of the city. In the years 1502-1503 plans to construct a permanent bridge here were discussed, and with this object a design sketch was made by Leonardo da Vinci showing a single span bridge with double pillars at either end, 350 m long and 24 m wide. However, technical drawbacks made it impossible to realize this project, and another Italian artist, Michelangelo was invited to design a bridge for\u00a0Istanbul. Michelangelo rejected the proposal, and the idea of building a bridge here was shelved until the 19th century. In the early 19th century Mahmut II (1808-1839) had a bridge built at some distance up the waterway between Azapkapi and Unkapani. This bridge, known as the Hayratiye, was opened on 3 September 1836. The project was carried out by Deputy Lord High Admiral Fevzi Ahmet Pasa using the workers and facilities of the naval arsenal. According to the History of Lutfi this bridge was built on linked pontoons and was around 500 to 540 m long.<\/p>\n

The first Galata Bridge at the mouth of the waterway was constructed in 1845 by the mother of Sultan Abdulmecid and used for 18 years. It was known as the Cisr-i Cedid or New Bridge to distinguish it from the earlier bridge further up the\u00a0Golden Horn, which became known as the Cisr-i Atik or Old Bridge.<\/p>\n

The New Bridge was built by Abdulmecid Han. First to pass over the bridge was\u00a0Sultan\u00a0Abdulmecid, and the first to pass below it was the French captain Magnan in his ship the Cygne. For the first three days crossing the bridge was free, after which a toll known as m\u00fcr\u00fcriye was paid to the Naval Ministry.<\/p>\n

This was replaced by a second wooden bridge in 1863, built by Ethem Pertev Pasa on the orders of Sultan Abdulaziz in readiness for the visit to\u00a0Istanbul\u00a0of Napoleon III.<\/p>\n

In 1870 a contract was signed with a French company, Forges et Chantiers de la Mediteran\u00e9e for construction of a third bridge, but the outbreak of war between France and Germany delayed the project, which was given instead to a British firm G. Wells in 1872. This bridge completed in 1875 was 480 m long and 14 m wide and rested on 24 pontoons. It was built at a cost of 105,000 gold liras. This was used until 1912, when it was pulled upstream to replace the now genuinely old Cisr-i Atik Bridge.<\/p>\n

The fourth Galata Bridge was built in 1912 by the German Man firm for 350,000 gold lira. This bridge was 466 m long and 25 m wide. It is the bridge still familiar to many people today that was badly damaged in a fire in 1992 and towed up the\u00a0Golden Horn\u00a0to make way for the modern bridge now in use.<\/p>\n

The Galata Bridge was a symbolic link between the traditional city of\u00a0Istanbul\u00a0proper, site of the\u00a0imperial palace\u00a0and principal religious and\u00a0secular\u00a0institutions of the\u00a0empire, and the districts of\u00a0Galata, Beyoglu, Sisli and Harbiye where a large proportion of the inhabitants were non-Muslims\u00a0and where foreign merchants and diplomats lived and worked. In this respect the bridge bonded these two distinctive cultures. As Peyami Safa said in his novel, Fatih-Harbiye, a person who went from Fatih to Harbiye via the bridge set foot in a different civilization and different culture. Apart from its place in fiction, the romantic appearance of the Galata Bridge made it a subject of many paintings and engravings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Galata is located at the north side of the\u00a0Golden Horn, towards\u00a0Taksim Square. Galata was surrounded by walls, constructed by the Genoese, until the 19th century. These walls started at Azapkapi near the\u00a0Golden Horn. The\u00a0Galata Tower\u00a0was the northernmost observation tower and the walls go down to Tophane from this point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[116],"tags":[121],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","yoast_head":"\nGalata and the Galata Bridge - DND TOUR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Galata is located at the north side of the\u00a0Golden Horn, towards\u00a0Taksim Square. Galata was surrounded by walls, constructed by the Genoese, until the 19th century. These walls started at Azapkapi near the\u00a0Golden Horn. 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