Enveng's Istanbul Trip #2 - Galata Tower and Istiklal Avenue

I am at the beautiful Galata Tower which is one of the symbols of Istanbul✨ It is located in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. It used to be a watchtower, now it is used as an exhibition and museum space. You can also watch the magnificent view of Istanbul from the top of the tower. Turks have many legends, we love legends 😍 The legend has it that you're marrying the person you went up to this tower with. That's why I postponed going up the tower 🤪

Another famous case about the tower is that Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi left the Galata Tower in 1632 with a vehicle similar to a bird's wings and glided down to the ground.

This tower is approximately 63 m high and 16 m in diameter. It is with its Romanesque style from the Byzantine period is 673 years old. It's fascinating how it looks so attractive at this age 👌

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There are many cafes and restaurants around the tower. I and my cousin chose Lavazza Best Coffee Shop. The cafe has both a good tower view and a famous Sebastian dessert. It was my first experience with this dessert and I liked it a lot 😋

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Istiklal Avenue
Istiklal means independence. It has been the most popular street in Turkey since the end of the 19th century. It is 1.4 km long.

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There are famous shops on this street where you can taste famous Turkish desserts. Kadayıf, Lokum, Baklava 😍 Kadayıf is an oven-baked shredded pastry with pistachio filling in thick syrup angel’s hair dessert. You can see Kadayıf in the left photo. Lokum is called Turkish Delight that is in the right photo. Baklawa is like multilayered flaky pastry with walnuts, pistachios.

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And Baklawa with many varieties 🎉 I recommend you to taste them at least once. The rest is up to you, probably you can be a fan of them 🙃

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Nostalgic Tram

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Taksim Squar
Taksim Square that became a square in the Republican Period also hosts many political and social events. Taksim means "serve out". In the Ottoman period, there was a water tank in the area that is now Taksim Square to distribute water to the surrounding districts. A structure was built to serve out the stored water. The name of the square comes from here.

There is the Republic Monument which you see in the photo. It is the symbol of the square in Taksim Square. Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica sculpture it in 1928. It is a sculpture that depicts Atatürk and the new deal with a figurative expression for the first time among the monuments of the Republic period.

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There are buildings with great architecture on Istiklal Street. I took some photos for you. You can see the Saint Antoine de Padoue Church which has a gothic architecture style in the photo below.

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The hotel (Sofitel) that is on the left side was the famous Maksim Casino. Maksim was the only place where all the famous singers took the stage until the 1990s. It is a hotel now.

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You can also find shops that sell many musical instruments and provide training on this street. A darbuka (goblet drum) shop is in the photo on the left photo. Bağlama or Saz shop is in the photo on the right photo 🎶

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And a modern guitar shop is on the left. Turkish tea is a routine of our lives. Tea is usually drunk in a thin glass. There are also shops on this street where you can buy such glasses.

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This street has delicious street foods such as chestnuts and boiled corn.

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There is also Mesir Paste, which is a traditional Turkish sweet. This dessert is prepared in front of your eyes and is finally ready with lemon 🍭

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I would like to complete my post with the night view of Galata Tower 🖤

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