Karaköy Pier () is a ferry landing on the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Located along Rıhtım Avenue, just east of the

Galata Bridge The Galata Bridge (, ) is a bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels. The current Galata Bridge is just the la ...

Şehir Hatları Ferries in Istanbul are a Public transport in Istanbul, mode of public transportation within and surrounding the city of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. There are three major ferry operators in the city: the municipally owned Şehir Hatları ("City Li ...

operates many ferries from Karaköy to

Kadıköy Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...

Bostancı Bostancı () is a neighborhood in the municipality and district of Kadıköy, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Description Bostancı is on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, on the shore of the Sea of Marmara. As the easternmost neighborhood of the Kadı ...

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

and to piers along the Golden Horn, as far west as Eyüp. Karaköy pier first opened in 1959, replacing an older pier on the Galata Bridge, and has been rebuilt three times since. It is located on the southern shore of the historic

Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...

neighborhood, known today as

Karaköy Karaköy (), the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus. Karaköy is one of the oldest and mo ...

. Connections to the historic

Tünel The Tünel (, designated as the F2 line on the Istanbul transport map) is a historic, underground, rubber-tyred funicular line in Istanbul, Turkey. It has two stations, connecting Karaköy and Beyoğlu. The tunnel runs uphill from near the con ...

funicular railway,

Istanbul Tram The Istanbul Tram () is a modern tram system on the European side of Istanbul. The first section, the T1 (Istanbul Tram), T1 opened in 1992, followed by the T2, which opened in 2006. In 2011, the T1 and T2 merged, with the line retaining the T1 ...

and

IETT The Istanbul Electricity, Tram and Tunnel Establishments () or İETT is the transportation authority in Istanbul connected to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality specializing in public transportation. History After nationalizing various c ...

city bus service is available, as well as connection to private Turyol ferry service at the nearby Turyol pier on the west side of the Galata Bridge.

History

Ferry service from the Galata-Eminönü area to Kadıköy began in the mid-19th century from Eminönü Pier, on the southern shore of the Golden Horn. It wasn't until 1919 that a pier was opened on the Galata side of the inlet. This pier was built along the Galata Bridge and kept operating until 16 January 1959, when a

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

destroyed the pier. The pier was rebuilt within the same year, but moved to a new location east of the bridge to its current location. This pier extended outwards on the water and was used for ferries primarily to Kadıköy. On 1 March 1966, two

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-flagged vessels, the ''M/T Lutsk'' and the ''M/T Kransky Oktiabr'', collided near the

Maiden's Tower __NOTOC__ The Maiden's Tower (), also known as Leander's Tower (''Tower of Leandros'') since the Byzantine period, is a tower on a small islet at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait, from the coast of Üsküdar in Istanbul, Turk ...

causing 1,850 tons of oil to be spilled into the Bosporus. The oil caught fire and reached Karaköy, where it burned down the Karaköy Pier along with the ''MS Kadıköy''. The pier was rebuilt shortly after and remained in operation until 1984, when a newer floating pier replaced it. This pier kept operating until 2008, when another Lodos storm sank the pier. This pier was replaced with a smaller one, located on land and connected to a small floating barge.That pier was finally replaced in 2018 with a much larger pier, built just off-shore and equipped with a library and cafe upstairs.

References

{{Beyoğlu 1959 establishments in Turkey Beyoğlu Ferry piers in Istanbul