Çukurcuma (pronounced chu-KUR-ju-ma; meaning "Friday Valley" in Turkish) is a district of

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

(in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

), made up of the Kuloğlu and Firuzağa neighbourhoods. It lies south-east of

İstiklal Caddesi ''İstiklal'' () is a national Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in S ...

in a valley, not far from Galatasaray Square and between the Tomtom and

Cihangir Cihangir is an affluent neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beyoğlu, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 3,739 (2022). It is located between Taksim Square and Kabataş. It has many narrow streets, two parks, and many st ...

neighbourhoods. The main thoroughfare is Çukurcuma Caddesi. The buildings largely date from the 19th century, although there has also been a lot of 20th-century development. Çukurcuma has a rather European character, and is full of antique shops and cafés. The residents tends to vote for the CHP. ''In 2008

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' devoted an article to Çukurcuma. In 2012, the newspaper described it as one of the five best places to live worldwide.

History

The area of today's Çukurcuma was not inhabited in the Byzantine period. During the Conquest of Constantinople (1453), Sultan

Mehmed the Conqueror Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

is said to have initiated

Friday prayer Friday prayer, or congregational prayer (), is the meeting together of Muslims for communal prayer and service at midday every Friday. In Islam, the day itself is called ''Yawm al-Jum'ah'' (shortened to ''Jum'ah''), which translated from Arabic me ...

in the valley, giving rise to its name. The Muhittin Molla Fenari Mosque is said to date from Mehmed's reign. Originally built between 1541 and 1547 to a design of the Ottoman architect

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan (; , ; – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha (title), Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman Empire, Ottoman architect, engineer and mathematician for sultans Suleiman ...

, it was commissioned for the Shaikh al-Islam Çivizade Hacı Mehmed Efendi. In the 19th century, Çukurcuma expanded as a residential district. In addition to ethnic Turks,

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and Western Europeans lived here and established schools, hospitals and diplomatic missions. In 1882 th
Liceo Italiano Galileo Galilei
joined the Greek Zografeion-Lyceum high school. The Greek

Consulate General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

also occupies a building in the neighbourhood. The 1955

Istanbul pogrom The Istanbul pogrom, also known as the Istanbul riots, were a series of state-sponsored anti-Greek mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The pogrom was orchestrated by the governing Democrat ...

hit Çukurcuma hard, and almost all the remaining Turkish Greeks and Armenians subsequently emigrated. In 2008,

Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...

published his book '' The Museum of Innocence'', much of it set in Çukurcuma. In 2012, Pamuk opened an actual Museum of Innocence in a wooden house on one of the back streets of the district. It was recognized as European Museum of the Year in 2014.

References

{{WikidataCoord, Q6079589 Beyoğlu Istanbul pogrom