From Kuzguncuk to Balat: Multicultural Neighborhoods.

Seeing a mosque, a church and a synagogue on the same street in an Istanbul neighbourhood is not surprising; it is ordinary. In Ottoman Istanbul Greeks, Armenians, Jews and Muslims lived in separate quarters yet intertwined; the migrations of the 20th century thinned that fabric but did not erase it. A few neighbourhoods still carry that past today and can be read on foot. Kuzguncuk, north of Üsküdar, is a single street running down to the Bosphorus. Walking along İcadiye Street you pass in turn the walls of an Armenian church, a Greek Orthodox church, two synagogues and the mosque; some stand wall to wall. In the 19th century the neighbourhood was mostly Jewish and Greek; today it is a quiet district of wooden houses, a community garden and bakeries, and a favourite of television crews. Balat and Fener are two adjacent neighbourhoods on the western shore of the Golden Horn with two separate stories. Fener has been the Greek quarter since Byzantine times; the Patriarchate is still here, and the red-brick Greek school on its hill is still a school. Balat was the Ottoman capital's great Jewish quarter, settled by Sephardim arriving from Spain in 1492 and by earlier arrivals from the Balkans. The Ahrida Synagogue has stood since the 15th century and is unique for its boat-prow pulpit. The Iron Church of the Bulgarian Orthodox community stands on the shore. Emptied after the 1950s, the neighbourhood has refilled over the past decade with cafés and restorations; the coloured houses draw photographers, but the old signs on the streets and the Hebrew and Greek letters above doorways tell the real story. Galata and Karaköy were the Genoese trading colony and launched Beyoğlu's Levantine age. Galata Tower is a remnant of the Genoese walls; the Neve Shalom Synagogue, St Anthony's Church and the Greek, Armenian and Catholic churches around İstiklal are traces of the same century. On Bankalar Caddesi, the Ottoman Bank building and the Camondo Stairs show how Jewish bankers shaped the city. A few things to keep in mind when visiting. Synagogues open only by appointment for security reasons, so apply a few days ahead. Churches are usually open in daytime, but silence is expected during services. Locals are used to photographs, but do not shoot house interiors or people without permission. And remember these are living places: Kuzguncuk's bakery, Balat's grocer, Fener's school are not scenery but life. The shared lesson of these neighbourhoods is this: Istanbul's multiculturalism is not exhibited in a museum, it walks the street. A church bell in the shadow of a mosque, a grocer's cat at the door of a synagogue — this is how the city carries its history.