Stepping Back Through Chalcedon: A Kadikoy Walking Tour

This easy walking tour takes you to the heart of Kadıköy’s complex history, where at one time or another Eastern Orthodox Christians, Byzantine leaders, Turkish-born Greeks, local Armenians, the Sultans’ elites, Ottoman insurrectionists, White Russians and young Turks trod the route you’ll follow.

The tour begins in front of the main wharf on the waterfront of Kadıköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul. You’ll hear how the district came out of the shadows of the old town of Sultanahmet on the other side of the city. You'll then enter a maze of fascinating streets. At each stop, you’ll learn the stories of the unique individuals who once lived and worked in Kadıköy, including that of a teenage girl in the 4th century. Along the way, you'll discover specialist shops, one selling chocolate made by the man who introduced cappuccinos to Turkey and the other founded by Haci Bekir, the creator of Turkish Delight.

On this Kadıköy tour, you'll have an opportunity to:

• Take in Armenian and Greek churches from the 1800s, including one located on the site of an earlier church dating to the 5th century
• See examples of Turkish nationalist architecture in streets formerly populated by Russians and Greeks, now frequented by modern-day Turkish students
• Learn about an opera house modelled on the great halls of France and Germany
• Pass by monuments marking the fall of the Ottoman Empire, WWI and the founding of the Turkish Republic
• Visit a cultural centre dedicated to Nazim Hikmet, Turkey’s greatest patriot and communist exile
• Hear about a much-loved statue of a bull, Kadıköy’s unofficial mascot

This tour drops you right into everyday 21st-century life in Kadıköy, played out against a singular backdrop where the past is ever-present. Turkish, Orthodox and other traditions are overlaid with a passion for all things modern, reflected in the churches, shops and other establishments dating from different eras all still in use today.