Halfway along İstiklal Avenue, the pedestrian spine of Beyoğlu, a stone archway opens onto a covered arcade of taverns, their tables spilling out beneath a glass vault. This is the Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı), one of the corners of Istanbul that still smells and sounds like another century. The avenue was once the Grande Rue de Péra, and in its heyday the passage was the social and cultural heart of the city's European quarter, admired for its architecture.
Today it remains one of the small gems worth seeking out on any walk through modern Istanbul. Step inside and you step back in time: the building has a story to tell, and below I'll give you a taste of it, along with how to get there and what to see around it.
History of the Flower Passage
The passage runs between İstiklal Avenue and Sahne Street, next to the Galatasaray fish market, and is famous for its historic cafés and taverns.
The site was originally occupied by the Naum Theatre, which burned down in the great Pera fire of 1870. The plot was bought by the banker Hristaki Zoğrafos Efendi, who commissioned the architect Kleanthis Zannos to design a Parisian-style arcade in its place. The building was completed in 1876 under the name Cité de Péra, with 24 shops at street level and 18 luxury apartments above them.
Among the first tenants were florists and a handful of shops, along with Yorgo's wine house.
In 1908 the building passed to the Grand Vizier Sait Paşa and was renamed Sait Paşa Passage. After the Russian Revolution, émigré Russian women sold flowers under its arches, and by the 1940s it had become the florists' hall of Beyoğlu, which is how it earned the name Çiçek Pasajı, the Flower Passage.
From the 1940s the florists gradually gave way to beer halls and meyhanes (Turkish taverns), but the name stuck. After a long period of neglect, the municipality launched a restoration project in 1988, and since a further refurbishment in 2005 the passage has been back in business, with its charm and its place in the city's history intact.
Eating under the glass vault
The passage today is a row of meyhanes: meze, grilled fish, stuffed mussels and a cold beer or a glass of rakı, with the noise of the tables echoing off the vault. It's more about the atmosphere than the cooking. The fish market next door is worth a look on the way in or out.
How to get to the Flower Passage
If you book a tour of Istanbul that includes İstiklal Avenue, there's nothing to worry about: your guide brings you here. On your own, it depends where you're staying. From anywhere in Beyoğlu (Taksim, Cihangir, Galata) it's an easy walk along one of the busiest streets in the city, with plenty to see on the way.
Otherwise, the nostalgic red tram that runs the length of İstiklal Avenue stops at Galatasaray, a few steps from the entrance to the passage. The nearest metro stations are Taksim and Şişhane, at either end of the avenue, each about ten minutes' walk away.
What to see around the Flower Passage
Several places within a short walk make a natural continuation once you've wandered through the arcade:
- Majestic Cinema: a modern cinema with a vintage soul, where small, intimate screens show films in Turkish and English.
- Pandora Bookshop: a bookshop with a large collection of titles on Ottoman and Turkish history, plus bestsellers, in both Turkish and English.
- The nostalgic red tram: ride the length of İstiklal Avenue aboard the vintage red tram, a classic for locals and visitors alike.
- Pera Museum: an art museum in Tepebaşı, a few minutes away, with three permanent collections, including Orientalist paintings and Kütahya tiles and ceramics.
- Madame Tussauds Istanbul: the wax museum inside the Grand Pera building on İstiklal Avenue, a fun stop for families.
With these stops you can round off your visit to the Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı). And if you'd like to see more of Istanbul's gems in a single, well-planned day, my Gems of Istanbul day tour walks İstiklal Avenue and its historic arcades, with free time for lunch nearby.