Balat's new tenants: the gentrifiers.
In June 2016, Balat became –in its own right and without a government decree– a a hipster neighborhood: the first organic products store had just opened, Gülümseten Dükkan . Organic pasta, organic beans, organic jams, organic coffee and 100% organic oils.
But who would buy in a store like that in a traditional neighborhood where you can get fresh, homemade produce at lower prices? The new tenants: the gentrifiers.
A 'village' in the center of Istanbul.
In the last 18 months, more than twenty coffee shops have opened in what used to be the greek and jewish area of the city: a conglomeration of Ottoman houses that a program of the European Union restores jointly with the Turkish authorities since the beginning of the century.
At this rate of opening it is not uncommon to wonder how many of them survive (the cafeterias, not the houses), since they are little more than a narrow basement and a few tables on the street, empty except on sunny weekends.
And not because they aren't worth it: I usually barricade myself to work in the Afilli Cezve assiduously, on the top floor of this charming house that serves fabulous homemade cakes and a cup of tea , something more difficult to find than one can think of the country that consumes the most tea in the world.
Maybe this is the doyenne of pseudo-hipster coffee shops from the neighborhood ( pseudo solo, because it is frequented by middle-class people who are not from the tribe of outlined beards and idle crochet), with its pair of maroon-colored wingback chairs in which to spread out to read by the window and heating on winter days.
The best known corner of Balat.
taking the Lavanta Street (where every Tuesday the stalls are set up for the weekly market, one of the wonders of this town-like neighborhood ), it reaches vodine , which is the artery that articulates Balat and ends at the most Greek end of the neighborhood, Fener.
There is no need to go there now. Just sit on the terrace Cumbali Coffee , one of the new trendy cafes in the area. You will recognize her by the colored umbrellas at the height of the first floor of the buildings. There we can buy a copy of Nooks and Crannies of Old Istanbul: Fener-Balat Ayvansaray, by veteran Turkish guide Ahmet Faik Ozbilge, and start reading about the Ahrida synagogue, which is right in front of us.
“Built in 1427 by Jewish immigrants from Macedonia, it is one of the few surviving Byzantine synagogues […] It is still the largest in Istanbul, with a capacity of 500 people […] Under the synagogue there is a tunnel leading to the [nearby] Golden Horn ”, narrates the book.
This photo says it all.
But if you prefer coffee to history (after all, they won't let you enter the passage): Coffee Department . It is a literal stone's throw from the Cumbali, right next to the synagogue and it is another of the premises that have come out, like mushrooms, of the empty basements of the neighborhood.
After the caffeine shot, keep going down Vodina street . The rhyme has been totally casual, don't think about it. Much more original are the compositions of the shared workplace (or coworking, if it sounds better in English) Olmadik Projeler , on the Hizir Cavus Mescidi street , perpendicular to Vodina and which is more or less on the way on our route today.
Ezgi and his companions rent the premises for meetings or presentations, but you don't have to pay anything if you want to take your computer to the premises and work from there. The tea isn't free, of course, but it's excellent.
On Hizir Çavus Mescidi street, an ode to coworking.
Continue along the same street for a couple of blocks, go around the mosque that gives its name to the street Çorbaci Çesmesi (What does it mean " Sopero Fountain Street ”, seriously) and... tachan! One of the most visited corners of Balat: a set of colored houses that little has to envy the Venetian burano.
It is not surprising that the website of a well-known sportswear brand will use this nook to promote its own athletics club: the steep rise gives a perfect perspective for street photography.
Go through it until Bekri Mustafa and returns towards Vodina . On the way you will find one of the unconsecrated monuments of Balat and the favorite swing of the children of the area: an old boat 'parked' on a lot.
Vintage Kulis.
Already in Vodina, among the neighborhood shops (the egg store, the tree fruit bowl, the bakery, a couple of bars where old Turks get together to smoke and play backgammon or cards...), you will also discover some fashion shops, such as Vintage Kulis , that by the name you will have already deduced that you and your grandmother would agree on which blouses to buy.
Right in front of the store you will come across Fener Antik Mezat, one of the local auction houses in the area. Don't get excited: it's not from unpublished Picassos. It is more like walking around the house and sells everything from old cutlery to musical instruments through old toys or portraits of Atatürk.
Think that "Mom, I had to push very hard to bring you this souvenir from Istanbul” is a fantastic phrase to say on the way back from the trip. All the Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at three in the afternoon you will have the opportunity to do so.
Auction at Fener Antik Mezat.
Right in the window in front you will see the packages of organic lentils of the already mentioned Gülümseten Dükkan and, if you turn off from Vodina down that street, Cicekli Bostan (“flowery garden street ”, no less), you will end up in the Golden Horn and in the park –one of the few in the city– that colors the shore green and offers fabulous views of the galata tower dominating the estuary.
Before reaching it, two stops: Balart art workshop (among other things, they sell plaster fridge magnets in the shape of neighborhood houses, which they make by hand on the spot) and the little tavern Arnavut Köfte , where they serve some lamb meatballs (köfte) delicious.
If you prefer not to eat meat, you can retrace your steps until Vodina, continue in the direction you were heading before turning towards the Golden Horn, and you will find the renovated Agora tavern, for affordable starters, a good fish dish and a glass (or two, or seven) of raki, the quintessential local liquor.
In the homonymous and historical tavern, also in Balat, they also serve fish and meat and everything you want, but it is all much more chic and expensive, of course. Two Agora taverns to choose from. if you want to drink alcohol With food, you won't have much choice, given that Balat, far from its Greek history, is now a neighborhood practicing the Mohammedan faith.
The renovated Agora Tavern on Vodina Street.
Perhaps it is rash to recommend climb a little hill after eating, but the corner is well worth it. Practically in front of the door of Agora (the accessible one of the two, where we had stayed), the Hizir Cavus Firini street. Go up the 20 meters you have and turn left (for Fener Kulhani ), until you find the beautiful view of the dome of the Fener Greek Lyceum in the distance, framed between colorful Ottoman houses and hanging clothes from end to end of the street.
Return to the cobblestone the main street, Vodina, on the way to have tea or coffee in one of the new premises. The way we're going, there are three good options left within Balat, and all of them are new cafes with a hipster aesthetic: Gabo, Maison Balat and Tin Balat. Excellent options for tea and pastries. Don't make that face now: crochet, retro print clothes and tea and biscuit cafes: Isn't being a hipster a bit like your grandmother?
Vodina Street.
In front of the Gabo and Maison Balat you will see a wall: the one that encloses the legation of the –semi-abandoned– orthodox church of Saint George, where in 1906 a 10th-century manuscript was found with a copy of a lost work by Archimedes: The method , written around 250 BC in Alexandria.
As the Greek community barely has a presence in this neighborhood formerly occupied by this group, most of these churches are in disuse. The one you now have in front of you opens only once a year, in the fall, so sit down and wait for them to open it in the heat of a cup of tea, you might as well be lucky.
And if we haven't convinced you to stop by Balat yet, here's one more plus point: it has the most effective hangover cure ever found. The My Donerim , a small place that sells chicken durums, serves flautas with meat, tomato, aubergine, pepper, french fries, aubergine, yogurt and tomato sauce capable of crushing the worst days afterward and bringing you back to life. Endorsed by drunks and praised even by abstemious friends. Of course, you better not be on a diet.
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