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Cibali is a neighborhood on the southern shore of the Golden Horn in Istanbul opposite Kasımpaşa. It’s located in the Fatih district between Ayakapı and Küçükpazar.
Introduction to Cibali
Cibali is named after Cebe Ali Bey, a military commander from Bursa under Sultan Mehmed II. It was home to a large population of Spanish Jews until the 18th century. It’s now a lower middle class area populated mostly by migrants from other parts of Turkey.
Cibali Gate
First is the Cibali Gate (Cibali Kapısı), which sits on the main road through the area. The gate was part of the Byzantine walls on the Golden Horn. It sits next to the local police station, and on a few of my visits there has been a historic police car parked outside.
According to tradition, Cebe Ali Bey broke through the gate on May 29, 1453, in order to gain access to the city during the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. A plaque next to the gate commemorates the event.
Fener House #1
Across the street from the gate you’ll find Fener House #1. It’s the first of three Greek Fener homes (Fener evleri) that have been restored and opened for exhibitions as part of the Haliç Art (Haliç Sanat) program. Admission is free (as of June 2025) and it’s open daily except Mondays.
This house in particular is known as the Genoese House (Ceneviz Evi). It’s a stone home with Greek and Ottoman features consisting of two floors and a rooftop terrace. It’s thought to have been built after the 18th century.
The ground floor has a vaulted ceiling and three windows. There are two small rectangular rooms.
Moving upstairs where the main room is located, the floor is decorated with Baroque motifs while angle figures adorn both sides of the entrance.
The main room is topped by a dome and was once elegantly decorated. Architectural figures are in the medallions underneath the dome. Four arched windows complete the room with three arched windows on the opposing façade.
Tobacco Factory (Kadir Has University)
Also along the main road is the former Cibali Tobacco Factory (Cibali Tütün Fabrikası). It has its origins with Tütüncü Mehmet Halis Efendi, who arrived in Constantinople after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. He opened a small tobacco shop in Küçükpazar and as his business grew, he opened a tobacco warehouse and factory in Cibali. Mehmet Efendi was eventually forced to sell the factory to La Régie Co-intéressée des Tabacs de l’Empire Ottoman, a French company established to exploit the tobacco industry in the Ottoman Empire.
The building was commissioned by Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1884 and designed by French-Ottoman architect Alexander Vallaury (1850-1921). It was the largest cigarette factory set up by the Régie in the Ottoman Empire. The factory was under French administration until March 1, 1925, when the Turkish Republic nationalized operations. It functioned until 1994 and the building was abandoned. The building was allocated to Kadir Has University (Kadir Has Üniversitesi) in 1997. It was restored between 1998 and 2002 and reopened its doors as an educational institution.
Rezan Has Museum
The Rezan Has Museum (Rezan Has Müzesi) is located at Kadir Has University. It specializes in culture, art, and history, and has one of the largest collections of Urartian jewelry in Turkey. Part of the museum is situated in a 17th century Ottoman building and the Seferikos Cistern, built in the 11th century by the Byzantines. Personally, it’s a hidden gem and one of the better small museums I’ve visited in Istanbul. Admission is 100₺ for adults (as of June 2025) and it’s open daily from 9am to 6pm.
Tobacco Exhibit
The ground floor of the museum contains an exhibit on the building’s history as a tobacco factory. It also covers the history of cigarette and cigar manufacturing in Turkey.
Several pieces of equipment used to process tobacco and make cigarettes are on display. This includes a tobacco softening and humidification machines, which allowed the leaves to be transported and store after they were harvested, as well as a manual tobacco shredding device. You can also see cigarette stuffing machines, boxing machines, and examples of locally-made cigarettes and brands.
The factory also produced cigars but not until 1933. This stopped during World War II, when production moved to Rize, and returned in 1981 with modern equipment. This brought the Cibali Tobacco Factory up to global cigar manufacturing standards.
Seferikos Cistern
The Seferikos Cistern is the basement of the building where the main exhibits are located. It was built in the 11th century and has a rectangular plan with 15 pillars and 48 vaults. There are also 20 reused column capitals. The cistern was used as a tobacco depot for the factory, and after World War II as a supply depot.
There are also two Ottoman structures in the cistern dated to the 17th century. One structure measures 8 x 7 meters and its function is unknown. The other smaller structure measures 6.2 x 3.9 meters and was either a fountain or reservoir. The foundations of the factory are partially supported by these structures.
Archaeological Section
The archaeological section of the Rezan Has Museum displays some impressive artifacts from the Neolithic through Seljuk periods. They’re presented in chronological order.
The exhibit starts with the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods followed by the Bronze Age. Civilizations such as Sumerian and Babylonian are represented.
The Urartian collection is one of the finest in Turkey, especially the jewelry and belts. One of the most impressive items is a belt depicting a feast scene.
The section on the Greek period contains artifacts from the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, mostly made of terracotta.
Roman period artifacts are next. They include a variety of items made with different materials including bronze, terracotta, and glass.
The archaeological section rounds out with a small display of Byzantine and Seljuk artifacts.
Tribute to Kadir and Rezan Has
Finally, a room off to the side pays tribute to Kadir (1921-2007) and Rezan Has (b. 1927). The museum was founded by their daughter-in-law, Ahu Has, in May 2007.
