- Name
- “Nişan taşı”: target stone, from Ottoman archery
- Founded as a quarter
- Mid-19th century, under Sultan Abdülmecid I
- Oldest landmark
- Teşvikiye Mosque, rebuilt in 1854
- Main street renamed
- Abdi İpekçi Street, February 1979
Nişantaşı (Nisantasi) takes its name from the marble “target stones” that Ottoman sultans set up to mark record shots in archery and shooting. It grew into a residential quarter in the mid-19th century, when Sultan Abdülmecid I built a mosque and a police station here to encourage people to settle, and after the court moved to Dolmabahçe and Yıldız palaces nearby. Pashas’ mansions came first; apartment buildings followed from the 1910s. Since the late 20th century it has been Istanbul’s best-known shopping district.
Why is it called Nişantaşı?
In Turkish, nişan means target and taşı means stone. In Ottoman Istanbul, a record shot in archery, and later in rifle shooting, was marked with an inscribed stone column that gave the archer’s name, the distance and the date. When the archer was the sultan, the stone often carried a poem praising his skill. Around 300 of these stones stood in the city at the end of the Ottoman Empire; about 40 survive.
Two of them are still in Nişantaşı, in the courtyard of the Teşvikiye Mosque. One was set up for Sultan Selim III in 1790–91 and the other for Sultan Mahmud II in 1811.
How did the neighbourhood begin?
In the mid-19th century, the hills above the Bosphorus were still largely open land. Sultan Abdülmecid I wanted a proper quarter here and had a neo-classical police station and the Teşvikiye Mosque built to draw residents. The name of the area, Teşvikiye, means “encouragement”.
- Teşvikiye Mosque: a wooden mosque stood here from 1794, in the reign of Selim III. Abdülmecid had it rebuilt in stone, and the present neo-baroque building was completed in 1854, to designs attributed to the Balyan family of architects. The white-columned façade dates from a later 19th-century renovation. Today it is the mosque where many public figures’ funerals begin.
- The palaces next door: when the court moved from Topkapı to Dolmabahçe Palace on the Bosphorus, and later up the hill to Yıldız, members of the dynasty, pashas and senior officials built mansions on the slopes in between. The Ihlamur Pavilion in the valley below was a sultans’ retreat from the same period. See things to do.
- Valikonağı Avenue takes its name from the governor’s mansion (vali konağı) that once stood on it.
Mansions and apartment buildings
Nişantaşı was close to Pera, the European quarter of the city, and it grew quickly. Foreign guests of the state, pashas and officials lived in its mansions, and from the 1910s apartment buildings began to replace the gardens. Many of the façades you see today, with carved stone, bay windows and iron balconies, were built in the Art Nouveau style between about 1900 and 1920.
- Vedat Tek’s house (1913–14) on Valikonağı Avenue: the architect of the Turkish national style designed it for himself.
- Maçka Palas (1922): an apartment block by the Italian architect Giulio Mongeri, whose residents included President Celâl Bayar and the poet Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan. It is now the Park Hyatt hotel. See luxury hotels.
- After the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, many families from Thessaloniki and Macedonia settled in Nişantaşı, among them the family of the poet Nâzım Hikmet.
Abdi İpekçi Street and the 20th century
The neighbourhood’s main shopping street was called Emlak Caddesi until 1979. On 1 February 1979, Abdi İpekçi, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Milliyet, was shot dead at its entrance on his way home. Five days later the city council renamed the street after him. A memorial by the sculptor Gürdal Duyar has stood at the spot since 2000.
Through the late 20th century Nişantaşı became the city’s address for fashion, and Abdi İpekçi Street has ranked among the most expensive retail streets in the world for rent. Since the early 2000s it has also been known for restaurants and nightlife, and for the street lights and crowds of New Year’s Eve. See shopping and New Year in Nişantaşı.
Nişantaşı in books
The Nobel-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk grew up in Nişantaşı and describes its apartments, streets and families in his memoir Istanbul: Memories and the City. Several of his novels are set partly here. The journalist Ece Temelkuran once compared the neighbourhood to New York’s Greenwich Village.
What can I see today?
- The target stones and the Teşvikiye Mosque, in the middle of the neighbourhood. Visitors are welcome outside prayer times.
- The apartment façades on the streets between Teşvikiye and Valikonağı avenues.
- The Abdi İpekçi memorial at the Teşvikiye end of the street.
- Maçka Palas, now the Park Hyatt, on the slope towards Maçka Park.
- Dolmabahçe Palace and the Ihlamur Pavilion, a 20 to 30 minute walk downhill.
Frequently asked questions
What does Nişantaşı mean?
“Target stone”. The name comes from the marble stones that Ottoman sultans set up to mark record shots in archery and shooting. Two of them, from 1790–91 and 1811, stand in the courtyard of the Teşvikiye Mosque.
How old is Nişantaşı?
The area became a residential quarter in the mid-19th century under Sultan Abdülmecid I. The Teşvikiye Mosque, its oldest landmark, was rebuilt in its present form in 1854 on the site of a mosque from 1794.
Who is Abdi İpekçi Street named after?
Abdi İpekçi, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Milliyet, who was shot dead at the entrance of the street on 1 February 1979. The street, until then called Emlak Caddesi, was renamed after him a few days later.
What does Teşvikiye mean?
“Encouragement”. Sultan Abdülmecid I built a mosque and a police station here in the 19th century to encourage people to settle in the area.