Arts, Culture & History

Do you recall the days when uncle Google was not only a click away? The days when most knowledge was hidden in those big,...

When I was about 12, I was bored to tears by rock music. My brother was in a band and practiced for hours. If...

In the midst of all the fairytale magic of Cappadocia, there lies an overlooked jewel embedded in the valley known as Mustafapaşa. Despite its...

Like many of history’s greatest culinary discoveries, that of coffee stemmed from a noisy, restless goat and his attendant farmer’s desire for an undisturbed...

Learning Turkish while living in Istanbul can be an experience both painstaking and profoundly exciting. There is an undefinable moment in this adventure -...

Someone recently described Istanbul to me as a city where you can "have the best day of your life, followed by the worst day”,...

The Golden Horn was of great importance during the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. This deep, natural harbor was a strategic point to defend the...

Having been one of the contributors to the Tales from the Expat Harem anthology over a decade ago, I was excited to see a...

Karaköy is a unique neighborhood with a mishmash of art, culture and food all packed into a zigzag of tiny streets and alleys. Although...

Tophane is a very pleasant area to spend an afternoon smoking nargile and playing tavla. Or, if you are more into art than the...

İstiklal Caddesi is home to many eateries, stores and coffee shops. Although chains such as Shake Shack have been cropping up, the promenade manages...

C. M. Kosemen is an artist and independent researcher born in Ankara, Turkey in 1984. He studied at Cornell University, Istanbul’s Sabancı University and...

Istanbul arguably doesn’t really have one central district, like a downtown or a city center. It is a city of many centers, each with...

People say that cities have a personality. I disagree. For me, a city has a genre. A category of literature or movies that jumps...

Certain things that are second nature at home can be a minefield abroad. Etiquette in all of its various forms is especially tricky. Despite...

Somewhere in the winding alleys of Fener and Balat, the former Greek-Jewish neighborhood of Istanbul, there is a hidden workshop and store that might...

Being a proud plant mother and a witch-in-training, I couldn't find a better place to live than in Istanbul. The city thrives with spice...

Emilie Varlet and Gabrielle Reeves began exploring Istanbul's hans in the summer of 2014, when they first started their sketching adventures in the city. They have...

Emilie Varlet and Gabrielle Reeves began exploring Istanbul's hans in the summer of 2014, when they first started their sketching adventures in the city. They have...

Now if you have watched Dan Brown’s Inferno, the movie with Tom Hanks, and have been a diligent tourist in Istanbul, you’d recognize the...

Itır Erhart, an Assistant Professor at the Media School, a part of Istanbul Bilgi University’s Faculty of Communication, studies a wide range of topics,...

Let me say straight away that this is not an encyclopedic or historical article on Turkish music. Rather, these are my observations on the...

We raced against the sun to reach the spring before all light had gone, Seçkin at the wheel and me biting my nails with...

As a long-time lover of cemeteries, I’m often telling people about my trip to this or that burial ground. Most have one question: “why?”...