ÇUKURCUMA
One of Istanbul’s oldest neighborhoods,Çukurcuma, as its name,
’’çukur’’, indicates, nestles in a hollow between two steep slopes. If
you check a map, you’ll spot it where İstiklal Street intersects the
districts of Taksim and Cihangir.
NAMED BY MEHMED THE CONQUEROR
Appealing to everyone interested in old things with its antique shops
and art galleries, Çukurcuma takes its name from an incident that
occurred in the time of Mehmed the Conqueror. Coming to the area to pray
on the eye of the conquest, he declared, ’’Let us perform a Friday
(Cuma) prayer in this hollow,’’ since there was no mosque or masjid here
at the time. His words were subsequently corrupted to ‘’Çukurcuma’’,
and the appellation stuck.
NEIGHBORHOOD MUSEUM
Yet another of the deservedly famous buildings in this quarter, where
you can buy everything old from vintage clothes to antique toys, is the
Museum of Innocence, opened in 2012 by writer Orhan Pamuk. This museum,
which garnered the European Museum Forum’s ‘’2014 European Musaum of
the Year’’ award, is an İstanbul museum that chronicles in a display of
artifacts of everday life a love that began in the 1950’s and lasted
into the 2000’s.
LA BOHEME
Synonymous with concepts like ‘’original’’ and ‘’authentic’’, this
quarter was the haunt of Armenian and Rumelian rag-and-bone men until
25-30 years ago. When Turks began opening shops as well, it took on a
certain cachet and was quickly transformed into a gentrified antiques
district. Close to a hundred shops have made it a virtual trademark
today. Shops selling old doors, old shoes and bags, ceramic knickknacks,
silverand copper and semi-precious gemstone jewelry occupy its
second-class historical monument buildings from the 19th and early 20th
centuries, and streetsof row houses give it a quintessential Bohemian
feel. You’ll think you’re in Paris here, where you can take a break in a
typical cafe and finally finish that book you’ve been carrying around
in your bag.
