İstanbul: Before & After

26 December 2023

Selected from the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Photography Collection, we present the landscapes and places in Istanbul photographs, dating from the 1850s to the 1980s, together with their present-day views!

As Istanbul has changed over the past 170 years, you will have various feelings and thoughts. Click here to discover the photographs in the collection and more on the Istanbul Research Institute Library.

 

Hotel Bristol, Pera Museum today
Meşrutiyet Street
1909 & 2023

 

View of Şişhane, Kasımpaşa and Golden Horn from Galata Tower
Late 19th century & 2023

 

Running race in Şişhane Square, Meşrutiyet Street, Tepebaşı
Early 1930s & 2023

 

Candy shop, Eminönü
1890 (Abdullah Frères) & 2023

 

Bebek Kayalar Masjid and Yılanlı Yalı (Serpent Mansion)
Late 19th century & 2023

 

Maçka Palas
Early 1930s & 2023

 

Tokalıyan Hotel, Tarabya
ca. 1900 & 2023

 

Bostancı Beach
1920-1935 (Ali Enis Oza) & 2023

 

Galata Quay
ca. 1900& 2023

 

Marble Tower, Yedikule
1890 (Gülmez Brothers) & 2023

Photography: Murat Kahya
The photos were taken with Fujifilm GFX100S in 2023; we would like to thank Fujifilm for their support. .

Turquerie

Turquerie

Having penetrated the Balkans in the fourteenth century, conquered Constantinople in the fifteenth, and reached the gates of Vienna in the sixteenth, the Ottoman Empire long struck fear into European hearts. 

The Ottoman Way of Serving Coffee

The Ottoman Way of Serving Coffee

Coffee was served with much splendor at the harems of the Ottoman palace and mansions. First, sweets (usually jam) was served on silverware, followed by coffee serving. The coffee jug would be placed in a sitil (brazier), which had three chains on its sides for carrying, had cinders in the middle, and was made of tombac, silver or brass. The sitil had a satin or silk cover embroidered with silver thread, tinsel, sequin or even pearls and diamonds.

Il Cavallo di Leonardo

Il Cavallo di Leonardo

In 1493, exactly 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci was finishing the preparations for casting the equestrian monument (4 times life size), which Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan commissioned in memory of his father some 12 years earlier.