Pera on Stage: From the Ney to the Silver Screen

1. 01
   Exploration

   Ride the Tünel from Backstage to the Stage

   Start at the upper exit of the historic Tünel funicular in Tünel Square. Opened in 1875, Tünel is the world's second-oldest underground rail line after the London Underground. Designed by French engineer Eugène-Henri Gavand, the line climbs more than 60 meters over 573 meters, and when you ride up from Karaköy, it feels like entering the Pera stage through the backstage door.

   Tünel Funicular upper station exit, Tünel Meydanı, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
2. 02
   Music

   Follow the Sound of the Ney in the Semahane

   Visit Galata Mevlevi Lodge Museum, founded in 1491 as the Kulekapısı Mevlevi lodge. It served as the Museum of Divan Literature between 1975 and 2011, and today it is again a Mevlevi lodge museum. The semahane with its walnut floor was the stage for the sema performed with ney and kudüm, and in the garden stands the 1819 tomb of Şeyh Galip.

   Galata Mevlevihanesi Müzesi, Galip Dede Caddesi No:15, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
3. 03
   Music

   Browse the Shopfronts of Instrument Makers

   Walk the middle section of Galipdede Street, named after Şeyh Galip and still the city's instrument bazaar. Ud, bağlama, kanun, darbuka, and guitar stand side by side in the windows. Descending from the Mevlevi lodge toward Kuledibi, this slope itself feels like the transition from the sema to street music.

   Galipdede Caddesi middle section, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
4. 04
   Art

   Read the Facade of the Sultan's Tailor

   Stop at Casa Botter on İstiklal Avenue, known as Istanbul's first Art Nouveau building. Italian architect Raimondo D'Aronco designed it in 1901 for Dutch royal tailor Jean Botter. After years of decay, the building reopened in 2023 as an art and design center following restoration by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; this was where the stage's costume maker worked.

   Casa Botter, İstiklal Caddesi No:235, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
5. 05
   Art

   Stand Before The Tortoise Trainer

   Visit Pera Museum, opened in 2005 inside the 1893 Bristol Hotel building. Its collection includes Osman Hamdi Bey's 1906 painting The Tortoise Trainer. The Orientalist canvases here depict the East as if it were a stage arranged for a Western audience, while Anatolian weights and measures and Kütahya tiles share the same building.

   Pera Müzesi, Meşrutiyet Caddesi, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
6. 06
   Culture

   Find Your Birth Year in Yeşilçam

   Enter Atlas Passage and the Istanbul Cinema Museum. This neoclassical building was constructed in the 1870s during the reign of Abdülaziz, became Atlas Cinema in 1948, and operated for 73 years. In 2021 it reopened as Atlas 1948 Cinema and the Istanbul Cinema Museum. Inside are Yeşilçam costumes, awards, and a database of more than eight thousand films.

   Atlas Pasajı / İstanbul Sinema Müzesi, İstiklal Caddesi, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
7. 07
   Local

   Close the Curtain at the Site of Naum Theatre

   Finish at the İstiklal Avenue entrance of Çiçek Pasajı. Until the great Pera fire of 1870, this site was home to Naum Theatre. After the fire, banker Hristaki Zoğrafos acquired the land and had architect Kleanthis Zannos build the current structure, completed in 1876. The passage got its name from the flower shops opened by Russian aristocratic women who arrived after the 1917 Revolution.

   Çiçek Pasajı, İstiklal Caddesi entrance, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey

Check opening hours before you go. Hours, access conditions and weather can change.