The Sugar Trail: From Bahçekapı to Moda

1. 01
   History

   Pause in Front of a Two-Century-Old Shopfront

   Start in Bahçekapı at Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir, the continuation of the tiny single-window, 33-square-meter shop opened in 1777 by Hacı Bekir Efendi, who came from Araç in Kastamonu. During the 1989 restoration, the arched oven, chimney, and wooden beams at the back were preserved, and the shop was officially registered as a living museum.

   Ali Muhiddin Hacı Bekir, Bahçekapı, Istanbul, Turkey
2. 02
   Food

   Walk the Old Confectioners’ Row

   A few doors away on the same street, stop at Hafız Mustafa in Bahçekapı. The business traces its founding to 1864, while the earliest independently verifiable record is an 1888 trade yearbook listing a confectioner at this address. For centuries, Bahçekapı was the street where confectioners gathered, and that row still survives.

   Hafız Mustafa, Bahçekapı, Istanbul, Turkey
3. 03
   Culture

   Find the Palace Helva Kitchen

   Enter Topkapı Palace to see where the sugar story began. The kitchens in the second courtyard were built in the time of Mehmed the Conqueror and rebuilt by Sinan after the 1574 fire; one of them was the helvahane. Sherbet, jam, helva, macun, and medicine were all produced there together, and by the 17th century the palace confectionery staff had grown to nearly ninety people.

   Bab-i Humayun entrance, Topkapı Sarayı, Istanbul, Turkey
4. 04
   Food

   Watch Baklava Made at Scale

   Continue to Karaköy Güllüoğlu, the baklava shop opened in 1949 and considered the city’s first store devoted only to baklava, though the family’s baklava tradition began much earlier in Gaziantep. In 2023, the business moved into a former warehouse building, where production is visible to customers upstairs beneath exposed wooden roof trusses.

   Karaköy Güllüoğlu, Karaköy, Istanbul, Turkey
5. 05
   Art

   Look for Color Among the Jars

   Cross by ferry and stop at Şekerci Cafer Erol in Kadıköy. The confectioner displays akide candies in large glass jars and is known for hand-shaped marzipan fruits and vegetables. The word akide means loyalty or pledge: in the past, these sweets were given during military pay ceremonies and oaths of allegiance.

   Şekerci Cafer Erol, Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey
6. 06
   Local

   Cross to the Bakery Opposite

   Head directly across the street to Beyaz Fırın. It was founded by a baker family from Macedonia who first worked in Balat, then Üsküdar and Karaköy, before opening the Kadıköy shop in the first half of the 20th century. The sugar-free bitter almond cookie they developed during the flour shortages of World War II is still made today.

   Beyaz Fırın, Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey
7. 07
   Food

   End the Day with an Ice Cream Cone

   Finish on Moda Caddesi at Meşhur Dondurmacı Ali Usta, the ice cream shop opened in 1969 by Ali Kumbasar and still on the same street today. The ice cream is made fresh on site every day with real fruit and sugar. The repertoire reaches nearly seventy flavors, with around thirty available in the counter daily. In winter there is salep; in summer, seasonal flavors like lemon and melon appear.

   Meşhur Dondurmacı Ali Usta, Moda, Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey

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