Cite de Pera

In the days that the Orient Express still rolled into Istanbul, the Flower Passage (Çiçek Pasajı) was the most glamorous address on İstiklal Caddesi

Chirtaki Efendi Zogrophos, a wealthy Constantinopolitan businessman, built the Second Empire-style Cité de Péra building on Beyoğlu’s Grande Rue de Péra ( Istiklal caddesi ) inGalatasaray Square in 1876 . He planed to built a shopping arcade with flats. It was designed by an Italian architect Mr.Cleanthy Zanno. There were 24 shops and 18 luxurious flats. The shopping arcade was called Hristaki Pasajı and the whole building was called Cité de Pera.

After the 1917 Revolution of Russia, many noble Russian women, including baronesses, came to Istanbul and opened flower shops in Cité de Pera. Because of the presence of all those flower shops, the place became a flower auction place as well. Today people still refer to the arcade as the Çiçek Pasajı.
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