From Galata to Pera: Shifting borders in Ottoman Society (1453-1923)

Abstract

Since ancient times the settlement of Galata was positioned on the Golden Horn opposite Byzantium. This area, that became the Genoese walled town, developed inside. Beyond the furthest northern point of the settlement, where the north walls and the tower stretched, lied the endless fields and the uninhabited rural area. Due to many historical, political, economic, social and other factors, later in time, this area beyond the Genoese settlement will become fruitful land for construction of, at the time, the most cosmopolitan part of Ottoman Istanbul. Since life in Galata was intense due mostly to maritime trade and harbor’s activities, the settlement will not be enough to absorb the influx of incoming population and the increase of new trades with the Western powers. As a result, its borders will be pushed and extended outside its walls towards the rural area of the hill and its ridge above that later will become known as Beyoğlu and Pera. These rural areas on the North side of Galata that were mostly occupied with fields and agricultural land as well as cemeteries and groves, will transform through the centuries into an area marked with diplomatic representative residences and palaces. Among these residences slowly, the cosmopolitan city will set up, following Western European models. The rural fields of the past will be replaced with new structures that later will change the entire area into a new cosmopolitan core of modern Istanbul baring the name of Pera withholding all the facilities one could find in any Western European capital, such as theaters, churches, cafes, shops, offices etc. The district of Galata and its walled frontier in time slowly will disappear and the transition from Galata towards Pera they will be put under the name of Beyoğlu that will become the center of the new emerging cosmopolitan bourgeoisie of the late 19th and early 20th century.