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Cihangir and Çukurcuma, Steep Lanes, Antique Shops and a Prince's Mosque
Cultural

Cihangir and Çukurcuma, Steep Lanes, Antique Shops and a Prince's Mosque

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Turn from Taksim Square into Sıraselviler Caddesi and walk downhill, and the city slowly changes direction. The side streets steepen, the mouth of the Bosphorus appears between the apartment blocks, and soon you are standing on the slope that drops to Tophane.

Beyoğlu, İstanbul
Cultural
Radar Editör
September 24, 2026

About Trip

Turn from Taksim Square into Sıraselviler Caddesi and walk downhill, and the city slowly changes direction. The side streets steepen, the mouth of the Bosphorus appears between the apartment blocks, and soon you are standing on the slope that drops to Tophane. Cihangir is the eastern side of that slope. To its west, in the hollow where streets from Galatasaray meet, lies Çukurcuma. The two are only minutes apart, and together they make one of the quietest half days Beyoğlu has to offer.

Getting There

The easiest way is to take the M2 metro to Taksim and walk down Sıraselviler Caddesi. When you reach Firuzağa Mosque you are at the heart of Cihangir; the centre of the neighbourhood has shifted to this lower stretch of the avenue. From below, get off the tram at Fındıklı or Tophane and climb the stepped streets, a short but steep route. Çukurcuma is reached from İstiklal Caddesi by Yeniçarşı Caddesi, which runs from Galatasaray Square down towards the shore. Hills are easier going down, so we suggest starting at Taksim and finishing at Tophane.

A Hill Named After a Prince

Cihangir takes its name from Prince Cihangir, son of Süleyman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan. Born in 1531, he died young in Aleppo in 1553 during the Nakhchivan campaign and was buried beside his elder brother Prince Mehmed next to the Şehzade Mosque. In his memory Süleyman had Mimar Sinan build a mosque on this hill overlooking the Marmara and the Bosphorus. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the first building, square in plan with one dome and one minaret and a primary school beside it, was completed in 1559-60. The area was not yet a settled quarter, but in time the mosque's name spread over the whole slope.

The mosque went through five fires and was rebuilt each time. The building you see today dates from the reign of Abdülhamid II at the end of the 19th century; the TDV gives the date as 1890. Its architect is sometimes said to be Sarkis Balyan, but this is not certain. The plan is still square with a single dome, but twin minarets with one balcony each now rise at the corners, and the walls under the arches carrying the 14 metre dome are opened up with wide fan-shaped windows. The TDV sees this generous glazing as a late application of the idea Sinan began at the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque at Edirnekapı. A restoration by the Directorate General of Foundations began in 2015 and ended in 2018, when thirty-nine calligraphic panels dated 1868-1890 were moved to a museum for safekeeping.

The mosque sits on sloping ground, and from its courtyard, held up by retaining walls, you look out towards the Marmara and the mouth of the Bosphorus. The dervish sheikh Hasan Cihangiri is buried in the graveyard, and the fountain is set into the wall. Visit outside prayer times, take off your shoes at the entrance, cover shoulders and knees, women should cover their hair, and keep quiet inside.

Cihangir From Fire to Apartment Blocks

Today's Cihangir took shape after a fire. Fires reached the area from time to time in the 19th century, but the one in 1916 destroyed every wooden building, and no wooden houses were built here afterwards. Masonry buildings and large apartment blocks from the late 19th and early 20th centuries turned Cihangir into a dense neighbourhood, and after 1920 some of the White Russian refugees gathering in Pera settled here.

Through the century Cihangir shared Beyoğlu's fortunes. Its streets declined after the 1960s and recovered in the late 1980s together with the area around İstiklal Caddesi. Today it is known as an artists' quarter of writers, actors, painters and musicians. Street cats are part of its identity too; Cihangir Park, the only public green space in the neighbourhood, has a cat house opened in memory of the artist Harun Kolçak.

From Firuzağa to Çukurcuma

Firuzağa Mosque, where Sıraselviler Caddesi meets Defterdar Yokuşu, marks the meeting point of Cihangir and Çukurcuma and makes a good place to meet. Citing the chronicler Ayvansarayi, the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam names its founder as the palace official Firuz Ağa. The first building was ruined in the great Cihangir fire of 1 March 1823 and, according to its inscription, rebuilt by Mahmud II in 1823-24. It is a raised mosque with shops below and the prayer hall above, showing traces of the Tanzimat style.

Book lovers can stop at the Orhan Kemal Museum before heading down. Opened in 2000 by the cultural centre founded by the writer's son Işık Öğütçü, it displays his typewriter, photographs and first editions in an apartment building dating from 1940. Check current opening days on the museum's website.

The Antique Streets of Çukurcuma

Çukurcuma probably owes its name, from the Turkish for hollow, to lying lower than Beyoğlu. Its main street, Çukurcuma Caddesi, crosses Yeniçarşı Caddesi from the east on its way down to the shore. This street and the lanes around it form one of Istanbul's best-known antique districts, with old furniture, lamps, signs, postcards and photographs spilling out of the shops. Bargaining is normal; if you plan to take a genuinely old piece abroad, ask for its paperwork before you buy.

On the street stands Çukurcuma Mosque, counted among the mosques of Mimar Sinan and also known as the Muhyiddin Molla Fenari Mosque. According to the Istanbul Governorship's guide, it was built between 1541 and 1547 for the Sheikh al-Islam Fenerizade Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi. It is a modest neighbourhood mosque reached by steps, with a wooden portico and walls of stone and brick; note the large windows on either side of the mihrab. The guide also records the Ömer Ağa Fountain of 1720 opposite.

The Museum of Innocence and an Old Hamam

In Dalgıç Çıkmazı, a cul-de-sac off Çukurcuma Caddesi, a three-storey building of 1897 houses the Museum of Innocence. Orhan Pamuk conceived it together with his 2008 novel of the same name; it opened on 28 April 2012 and displays in its cases objects from the life of the novel's hero, Kemal. Even if you have not read the book, it works as a collection about everyday life in Istanbul in the second half of the 20th century. Check current hours on the museum website.

Also on Çukurcuma Caddesi, on the opposite side from the mosque, is the historic Çukurcuma Hamam. Listed in Reşad Ekrem Koçu's Istanbul Encyclopedia also as the Sürahi Hamam, it was built, according to the encyclopedia, after 1831, when the waterworks endowed by Nakşidil Valide Sultan brought plentiful water to Beyoğlu. Its first owner was Şerife Hanım, and in 1876 it was sold at auction to settle debts. The Sürahi section has a bathing hall under a hemispherical dome and a hot room with a barrel vault. Since its restoration the building is again in use as a hamam.

Suggested Walk

From Taksim, walk down Sıraselviler Caddesi to Firuzağa Mosque. Head into the inner streets of Cihangir to Cihangir Mosque and catch your breath in the courtyard with the sea in view. Return to Firuzağa and drop west into Çukurcuma. Browse the antique shops along Çukurcuma Caddesi, look at Çukurcuma Mosque, the fountain opposite and the front of the hamam, and visit the Museum of Innocence in Dalgıç Çıkmazı. Then keep going downhill to Tophane, where the shore and the tram stop are a few minutes away. With the museum, four hours is about right, and Cihangir has plenty of cafés for a break.

Season and Time of Day

The best times in Cihangir are early morning and the hour before sunset. Mornings are quiet as the cafés open; late in the day you can watch the light fall towards the Marmara from the courtyard of Cihangir Mosque. Climbing the hills on a summer afternoon is tiring, so choose the morning in that season. On rainy days the stepped streets can be slippery; keep to the Sıraselviler side.

Practical Notes

  • Allow half a day. A good order is Taksim, Sıraselviler, Firuzağa, Cihangir Mosque, Çukurcuma Caddesi and Tophane.
  • Cihangir Mosque and Çukurcuma Mosque are neighbourhood mosques; avoid visiting during Friday noon prayers.
  • Ask before taking photographs inside antique shops.
  • The area is within walking distance of Istanbul Modern and the Pera Museum on our Beyoğlu art route, so you can add one of them to fill the day.

Sources

Location - Cihangir and Çukurcuma, Steep Lanes, Antique Shops and a Prince's Mosque

Trip Info
CityBeyoğlu, İstanbul
TypeCultural
DateSeptember 24, 2026
SourceRadar Editör
Radar TürkiyeAuthorRadar TürkiyeVisit SourceGet Directions