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Çukurcuma is the place to go for antiques in Istanbul. Through the narrow streets, you’ll be able to find all kinds of interesting treasures.
Introduction to Çukurcuma
Çukurcuma is home to art galleries and cafés as well as the excellent Museum of Innocence. Many shops are located along Çukur Cuma Street, but you can also find them on Faik Pasha and Bostanbaşı Streets. The area is technically named Firuzağa but it’s commonly known as Çukurcuma.
Ömer Ağa Fountain
One minor historic landmark along Çukur Cuma Street is the Ömer Ağa Fountain (Ömer Ağa Çeşmesi). It was built in 1731 and sits near the Muhyiddin Molla Fenari Mosque (Muhyiddin Molla Fenari Camii).
Museum of Innocence
The Museum of Innocence (Masumiyet Müzesi) is a fantastic museum set in a 19th century mansion on Çukur Cuma Street. It’s unlike any museum I’ve ever visited.
The Museum of Innocence is open daily except Mondays from 10am to 6pm. Tickets are 300₺ for adults (as of December 2023). An audioguide is available in English, Turkish, or Russian for an additional 10₺ (as of December 2023). I highly recommend the audioguide as it helps to make sense of all the items on display. There’s a short version that skips several of the items and a long version that takes up to two hours. I noticed a few visitors walking around without audioguides and I can’t imagine they got anything worthwhile out of the museum.
The museum is a companion to the novel The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk wanted to tell a fictional story using real objects and began collecting several items in the mid-1990s. His idea was to place the items in a museum and write a novel about them.
The novel was published in 2008 and the museum opened in April 2012. I hadn’t read the novel but heard rave reviews about the museum so I decided to pay a visit. To avoid spoiling it for you, I won’t explain the story in detail here.
Museum Exhibits
When I first entered the museum, I was greeted by a wall full of cigarettes apparently smoked by Füsun, a character in the novel, over a period of eight years. They were collected by the protagonist, Kemal, who carefully collected and labeled each one. It was quite strange to me and I wasn’t immediately convinced that I would enjoy my visit. At that point, I planned to do only the short audioguide.
Walking upstairs to the next level, I encountered the first boxes containing objects related to different sections of the novel. I pressed the button corresponding to each numbered box and listened carefully. The vivid descriptions quickly drew me into the story and I decided to follow the long version. I ended up enjoying it thoroughly.
The museum is spread out over three levels of the building. Some of the boxes are incomplete and the audioguide skips these sections. The author plans to finish the incomplete boxes in the future.
Kemal’s Bedroom
Finally, on the top floor is the supposed room of the protagonist, Kemal Basmacı. A sign indicates Kemal lived in the bedroom from 2000 until his death on April 12, 2007, and Pamuk would visit him occasionally to listen to his story.
The room includes a display containing several versions of The Museum of Innocence translated into different languages as well as notes and sketches by the author.
My Thoughts on the Museum of Innocence
Overall, I would visit the museum again. I would like to see the boxes that were unfinished at the time of my visit. Also, I would recommend the museum to anyone looking for a unique experience in Istanbul. It will quench the thirst of anyone who enjoys listening to a good story, and does it in a way that appeals to the senses.
Cezayir Street
Running between Bostanbaşı and Hayriye Streets are the narrow stairs of Cezayir Street. Some of my Turkish friends told me to visit this street because it’s just like France. In fact, it’s nicknamed French Street (Fransız Sokak).
It turns out that there’s nothing French about it, unless you count overpriced Turkish restaurants with French names and pink, purple, and blue couches. Yes, it’s a scenic street, but there’s really nothing special about it.
I also found the restaurant hosts quite annoying. Just about every single place I walked past, someone popped out and shoved a menu in my face.
Cezayir Apartment
Past the entrance to Cezayir Street is the Cezayir Apartment (Cezayir Apartmanı), which was once the Italian Opera School (İtalyan Opera Okulu) built in 1901. Today, it houses the Cezayir Restaurant.
Near Çukurcuma…
From Çukurcuma, you can explore Cihangir or Tomtom. If you walk uphill along Yeni Çarşı Street, you can reach Istiklal Street. You can also walk downhill along Boğazkesen Street to Tophane and the Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque.
