Şehr-İ Istanbul - Galata Tophane Karaköy

Our tour begins at 10:00 in front of the Swedish Consulate in Tünel Square.

Starting from the end of Istiklal Street, our walk takes us to Narmanlı Han, the Tünel building, Asmalı Mescit, and the Galata Mevlevi House before we descend to Serdar-ı Ekrem Street. With its rapidly rising property values in recent years, this street is home to many interesting buildings such as the German High School, Crimea Church, and Doğan Apartment. At the end of the street, we reach Galata Tower Square, famous for "Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi flying from its top all the way to Üsküdar."
Next, we see Bereketzade Mosque, St. George's School, and the British Sailors’ Hospital, followed by a visit to Schineidertempel, which was once a synagogue and now serves as an art gallery.
Passing the Ashkenazi Synagogue and Minerva Han on Yüksek Kaldırım Street, we reach Karaköy. As we stroll through the streets between Karaköy and Tophane, we encounter a different religious building at almost every corner: Armenian Catholic, Turkish Orthodox, Armenian Gregorian, Russian Orthodox, Latin Catholic Churches, and more. We also see the French Passage and the Historic Karaköy Police Station. Depending on availability, we may visit the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate and one of the Russian domed churches (Apostol Andreas or Ayios Panteleymon), then tour Istanbul’s only Underground Mosque before heading to lunch. (For mosque visits, female participants are required to bring a headscarf or shawl-type covering. Shoes must be removed before entering mosques. Galoshes may be worn over socks, but not over shoes.)

We will have lunch at Akın Balık, one of Istanbul’s most famous "casual" fish restaurants. (Lunch will be à la carte from the restaurant's menu and must be paid for by the participants.)
After lunch, the second part of our tour begins. We will see the historic inns and buildings along Bankalar Street, the Kamondo Stairs, Podesta Palace, St. Pierre Inn, old Genoese buildings, the Dominican Church, D'Aronco Fountain, the Italian Synagogue and the Galata Walls, and finally reach Arap Mosque. After seeing this mysterious place of worship, where the debate over whether it was originally a church or mosque still continues, we end our tour by visiting Azapkapı Mosque and finish around 16:00 in front of the Haliç Station of the Yenikapı-Levent Metro.