Cihangir (Istanbul)
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Cihangir is a neighborhood in the
Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, meani ...
district of
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, between
Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...
and Kabataş. It has many narrow streets, two parks, and many street cafes especially in and around Akarsu Yokuşu Sokağı. The neighbourhood has a
bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
reputation. It is known for its artists, writers, actors, and expatriates - as well as large army of street cats. It was also a stronghold for protesters during the
Gezi Park protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park prot ...
. Cihangir was named after
Şehzade Cihangir Şehzade Cihangir ( ota, شهزاده جهانگير; 1531 – 27 November 1553) was an Ottoman prince, the sixth and youngest child of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sultan. Life Cihangir was born in Constantinople in 1531 d ...
whose heart-broken father,
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
, had
Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan ( ota, معمار سينان, translit=Mi'mâr Sinân, , ) ( 1488–1490 – 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 Empir ...
build a mosque overlooking the Bosphorus to commemorate his death. The name means "conqueror" in Turkish and, in turn, comes from the Persian compound word ''jahan'' + ''gir'' (جهانگیر), meaning "conqueror of the world". Today, the Cihangir Mosque, originally built in 1559 but reconstructed in 1889, offers views across the
Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
to
Sarayburnu Sarayburnu ( tr, Sarayburnu, meaning ''Palace Cape''; known in English as the Seraglio Point) is a promontory quarter separating the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, Turkey. The area is where the renowned Topkapı Palace and Gülh ...
. In 2012, the British newspaper ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' included Cihangir and neighbouring
Çukurcuma Çukurcuma (pronounced chu-KUR-ju-ma; meaning "Friday Valley" in Turkish) is a district of Beyoğlu (in Istanbul, Turkey), made up of the Kuloğlu and Firuzağa neighbourhoods. It lies south-east of İstiklal Caddesi in a valley, not far from Ga ...
in the list of the five best places in the world to live, next to
Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...
, in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
; the district of
Sankt Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Paul ...
, in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, the north coast of
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
, in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
and
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, in the state of
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(
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).
Ece Temelkuran Ece Temelkuran (born 22 July 1973, in Izmir"About"
ecetemelkuran.com
) is a Turkish journalist and author. She was ...
wrote that this neighbourhood is like
Soho, Manhattan SoHo, sometimes written Soho (South of Houston Street), is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its variet ...
.


Demographics


History

During
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
times, the area of the present neighborhood was probably not settled, although there were Byzantine buildings near present-day
Tophane Tophane () is a quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, running downhill from Galata to the shore of the Bosphorus where it joins up with Karaköy to the southwest and Fındıklı to the northeast. In the Ottoman era, it was t ...
and Fındıklı below Cihangir. During the reign of
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
, the area was a forested hunting ground. It was one of the favourite places of Suleiman's son
Cihangir Cihangir is a neighborhood in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, between Taksim Square and Kabataş. It has many narrow streets, two parks, and many street cafes especially in and around Akarsu Yokuşu Sokağı. The neighbourhood ha ...
after whom it is named. In the second half of the 19th century, the increasing influx of non-Ottoman Europeans into Istanbul drove up real estate prices in the nearby Pera district in
Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, meani ...
, to which they were officially confined. Some Europeans, however, acquired land in areas outside Pera such as Tophane, Fındıklı, and Cihangir, leading to a great deal of upmarket residential development in those neighbourhoods. Starting in the 1930s, non-Muslim residents of Cihangir and the rest of Beyoğlu left or were forced out. They were replaced by Muslims from other Istanbul neighbourhoods and by internal migrants from eastern Turkey. As the character of the neighbourhood changed, middle-class Muslims also began leaving it. By the 1970s, Cihangir was known as an area where Anatolian migrants lived alongside artists and intellectuals. Steady gentrification pushed up house prices in the area during the 2010s but after the inconveniences inflicted on local residents by the troubles around the
Gezi Park protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park prot ...
of 2013, there was something of an exodus from the area. In particular, younger more bohemian people started to move across the Bosphorus to
Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of ...
. Since 2020, however, the exodus has gone into reverse and house prices were once again soaring by 2021. In the early twenty-first century, Cihangir became well-known for its cafes, artists, and bohemian culture. In addition, the neighborhood is known for its street cats, and local residents help feed and take care of the cats. The documentary Kedi, which profiles street cats, was largely filmed in Cihangir. The neighborhood is used as a nickname to designate upper class leftists called "Cihangir leftist" (Turkish: ''Cihangir solcusu''), or the Turkish version of the term "
champagne socialist Champagne socialist is a political term commonly used in the United Kingdom. It is a popular epithet that implies a degree of hypocrisy, and it is closely related to the concept of the liberal elite. The phrase is used to describe self-identified ...
".


References

; Printed Sources * * http://www.thesis.bilkent.edu.tr/0002485.pdf * *


External links


Images of Cihangir

Map of Cihangir neighborhood
Neighbourhoods of Beyoğlu {{Istanbul-geo-stub