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Showing posts with label nisantasi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nisantasi. Show all posts

Thursday, 6 August 2015

5-10 August 2015: Time to See the Sculptures of Xu Hongfei



The sculptures of Xu Hongfei is at Istanbul as a part of his world tour. The sculptures are will be on display until 10 August. Don't miss them, if you are going to pass by Cevahir Mall, Nisantasi Sanatcilar Parki, or Abide-i Hurriyet Square.

The "fat and happy" women of the sculpture make you happy, too. I was on my way to work, and stopped to see them. They looked so alive that I thought they would really start to dance in front of me.

You can take as many photos as you like. People love to pose like the sculpted women. You'll have an interactive exhibition experience.



Who is Xu Hongfei?


He is a successful and talented Chinese sculpture. He started this project in 1997, he has sculpted over a hundred of these sculptures. He uses bronze, white marble and wood as materials. You'll admire the details of his works.

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Teşvikiye: Both Historical and Plush

Tesvikiye is a Sisli neighbourhood next to Nisantasi, but the confines are not definite anyway. You just walk by. Tesvikiye means "incentive" in Turkish. The neighbourhood was built upon an incentive.

Turkish writer Leyla Erbil lived in Tesvikiye and spent her last days there. She was a revolutionary writer in changing the dictation and syntax.

Teşvikiye Houses and Restaurant


There are many beautiful buildings around, so don't forget to look above and take photos. One of my favourite buildings is Tesvikiye Palace (the grey one on the left). Actually apartments began to be built after 1920's, when the city started to expand.

There are many restaurants, some of which are very fancy. There is House Cafe next to Tesvikiye Mosque and on the opposite of it, there is a little restaurant that makes the best "trilece" dessert of the town. You need to visit there early in the day, because it is almost impossible to find trilece after 12:00 AM.


Tesvikiye Mosque


Tesvikiye Mosque was built at the reign of Selim III in 1794-1795 as a small mosque (mescit). It was renewed by Sultan Abdulmecit in 1853-1854. There is a marking stone on its yard. (Nisantasi has a marking stone, too. They were actually to mark the borders of the hunting and shooting area.)

Harbiye Police Station is also an old building dates back to the same years as Tesvikiye Mosque. There is also a marking stones on its yard.


Transportation in Tesvikiye


The roads are quite narrow so there is no public transport. I prefer walking. You can also take a taxi, or get on a Nisantasi bus to shorten the way.

For accommodation, you can also prefer Nisantasi, Harbiye or Besiktas.

Monday, 2 February 2015

Nisantasi: Let's Get a Little Bit Fancy

Nisantasi is named after the marking stone (nisantasi) on the intersection of Tesvikiye Street and Rumeli Street. It contains the close parts of Mesrutiyet and Tesvikiye neighbourhoods around Vali Konagi. The neigbours of Nisantasi are Macka, Harbiye, Osmanbey and Tesvikiye. Nisantasi is famous for globally known brands and cafés. I also like the old and beautiful houses and the comfortable atmosphere.

Valikonagi Street is the biggest street of Nisantasi. "Vali konagi" means "the governor's mansion" in Turkish. The mention of the Istanbul governor is literally there. The governor changes, but the use of the mansion doesn't change. You will notice the building on the opposite of Mim Kemal Oke Street. On the same street, there is also the house that famous architect, Vedat Tek himself designed.



Nisantasi usually hosts the best New Year's celebrations in Istanbul. The second biggest street, Abdi İpekçi Caddesi is decorated with trees and lights. The New Year celebrations were cancelled due to budgetary savings.

Visit the Demokrasi Park, whenever you can. It is literally full of cats! Most of my cat photos are taken there. There are benches and a little tea house to pass lovely time. And again, cats. (I even saw a rooster there.) The most luxurious cat houses are there. That's Nisantasi!



History


To repeat again, Nisantasi is named after the marking stone. Actually there are three stone signs, the third one is on the yard of a building at Ihlamur Yolu (I'll try to find it for you). The third and the second one are from the reign of Mahmut II in 1811. The first stone, our stone in question, is from the reign of Selim III in 1790-1791.

It is hard to separate Tesvikiye and Nisantasi. Before a different blog post about Tesvikiye (meaning incentive, encouragement), some summary is needed here. Selim III ordered the neo-classical police station and the neo-baroque Tesvikiye Mosque. Selim III ordered two stones which marked the beginning and the ending of the quarter. (Third one? I don't know.)

After the Balkan Wars in 1912-1913, Turks from Macedonia and Thessaloniki moved to Nisantasi. The family of Nâzim Hikmet was also among them. (Nâzim Hikmet was born in Thessaloniki.) There were also Greek, Jewish, Armenian and Levantine citizens. I don't know have many of them are left after the events at September 6-7, 1955, which affected mostly Taksim, Pangalti, Harbiye and Nisantasi.



Where is Nisantasi


Nisantasi is in Sisli district and it is quite close to Taksim and Mecidiyekoy. The transportation options are vast. I love the streets around Halaskargazi and Cumhuriyet streets. Walking from Taksim or Mecidiyekoy will take at most 20-30 minutes.

The traffic jam isn't so bad, compared to the rest of Istanbul, unless you run into work hours. The working hours usually affect the direction to Mecidiyekoy at evenings (That's my deduction as a person who works at Mecidiyekoy).

So, if you like to get on the bus, it is also a viable option (Osmanbey and Pangalti stops are both okay.) Read the bus signs. There are many buses that use Halaskargazi and Cumhuriyet streets (Mecidiyekoy-Sisli-Osmanbey-Pangalti-Harbiye-Elmadag-Taksim line is one of the most lively lines in Istanbul.)

You can also try the metro, but if you are coming from Taksim or Mecidiyekoy, it is not worthwhile to travel underground. The undergrounds in Istanbul are so underground that it is more practical to walk when the destination is Nisantasi. The name of the metro stop is Osmanbey. There are different exits which are all walkable, even if you choose the wrong one.

From Nisantasi, you can walk to Fulya and Besiktas.



Tips


* Nisantasi is one of the richest and kindest districts in Istanbul. I think, it is also one of the safest. The interesting thing is that even thinner addicts say please, if they are in Nisantasi or somewhere close.

* Nisantasi has shops, restaurants and cafés for every budget. However, still check the prices, in case you enter somewhere expensive. The attitudes are better than Taksim and Sultanahmet, so the need for bargaining may be less.

* Walking in Istanbul requires to look ahead, but don't miss the beautiful building. Take numbers of photos. Nisantasi is one of the few places in Istanbul, where a single woman taking photos draws almost no attention. (If someone here or at any part of Istanbul says "photo, photo" looking at your face smiling, just ignore that creature.)

* Nisantasi University has almost nothing to do with Nisantasi. There is just a small building at Kurtulus and the rest is somewhere irrelevant.

Thursday, 18 December 2014

Best 3D Cinemas in Istanbul

3D movies began with Avatar and it became an exciting branch of cinema. This week the last part of legendary Hobbit trilogy, Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, has come out. All the fans are so excited. In case you are in Istanbul, you are lucky. There are many movie houses in Istanbul.



3D movie houses have different formats, such as IMAX and XPAND. IMAX is available only at Istinye Park and Marmara Park. Here is the list of them:

European Coast:



  • Beyoglu Atlas
  • Beyoglu Cinemaximum (Fitas)
  • Nisantasi CityLife (City's AVM)
  • Osmanbey Gazi
  • Mecidiyekoy Maximum (Cevahir)
  • Sisli Cinemaximum (Trump Towers)
  • Mecidiyekoy Profilo AVM
  • Zincirlikuyu Cinemaximum Zorlu Center
  • Levent Cinemaximum (Kanyon)
  • Levent Saphire Cinema Pink
  • Levent Ozdilek Cinetime
  • Etiler Akmerkez Cinema Pink
  • Istinye Cinemaximum (Istinye Park) IMAX
  • Deniz Private Cinecity Etiler
  • Fatih Cinemaximum (Historia)
  • Bakirkoy Cinemaximum (Marmara Forum)
  • Bakirkoy Cinemaximum (Capacity)
  • Bakirkoy Carousel Cinema Pink
  • Atakoy Cinemaximum (Atakoy Plus)
  • Florya Cinemaximum Aqua
  • Florya Cinefly Flyinn
  • Bayrampasa Cinemaximum (Forum Istanbul)
  • Eyup Cinemaximum (Vialand)
  • Gungoren Cinemaximum (Kale)
  • Bagcilar Site
  • Bagcilar 212 AVM Cinemarine
  • Esenler Espri Site
  • Bahcelievler Metroport Cine Vip
  • Maslak TIM
  • Yesilkoy Airport Cinemas
  • Deniz Private Cinecity Trio Atasehir
  • Yenibosna Starcity Site
  • Atasehir Novada Avsar
  • Sefakoy Sinemay Armoni Park
  • Esenyurt Cinemaximum Akbati
  • Beylikduzu Cinemaximum Marmara Park IMAX


Anatolian (Asian) Coast:



  • Altunizade Capitol Spectrum
  • Kadikoy Cinemaximum (Nautilus)
  • Kadikoy Rexx
  • Acibadem Cinemaximum (Akasya)
  • Göztepe Avsar Optimum
  • Caddebostan Cinemaximum (Budak)
  • Kozyatagi Avsar Kozzy
  • Umraniye Cinemaximum (Meydan)
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