Tracing the Italian Legacy in Beyoğlu

The architectural conversation I continued with Hayri Fehmi Yılmaz through the surprising streets of Beyoğlu amounts to a historical walk from Karaköy up towards İstiklal. An architect’s name cut into stone, fine workmanship on a school façade, an apparently ordinary street sign: each whispers a good deal about the city’s Italian past.

The conversation questions what is taken for granted about the origins of the names Galata and Beyoğlu, and looks closely at the marked differences of manner in the buildings of D’Aronco, Mongeri, Vallauri and the Fossati brothers, who left their stamp on the city’s silhouette.

Asking how the church of Santa Maria Draperis came to stand below the street, almost hidden, we see that both design decisions and the city’s own evolution settled the matter; while Sant’Antonio, set back from the main avenue around its courtyard, brings other ages and other geographies into Beyoğlu.

The names, coats of arms and dates on the façades of embassies and schools guide us at every step; and a doorway arch or a small marble plaque standing quietly beside the great monuments often tells a far deeper story than those large buildings do.