Kamondo Merdivenleri

A curving stone staircase in Karaköy linking Bankalar Caddesi with the Galata streets above. It was built in the second half of the 19th century by Abraham Salomon Camondo, head of the Camondos, one of the leading banking families of the Ottoman Empire; sources date it either to the 1850s or to 1870-1880. According to the sources it shortened Camondo's way from his house to the street of banks and made it easier for his children to reach the nearby Austrian school. It is known for a design that sits between Neo-Baroque and early Art Nouveau, braided railings and hexagonal steps. Also familiar from Henri Cartier-Bresson's 1964 photograph, the staircase is still a busy pedestrian link between Karaköy and Galata.