Flower Passage
Beyoğlus Historic and Cultural Icon
In the Tanzimat period, Sultan Abdülhamit and Sultan Abdülaziz enjoyed their theater evenings at the famous Naum Theater in Beyoğlu. This theater was located at the intersection of İstiklal Avenue and Sahne Street.
Verdis opera ""Il Trovatore"" is also famous for being staged at this theater before Paris. Naum Theater, which hosted Italian operas, became one of the leading cultural centers in Istanbul and Europe. However, the Great Beyoğlu Fire of 1870 also razed the Naum Theater. The land of the theater, which was among the buildings rebuilt after the fire, was purchased by Hristaki Zografos Efendi, known as ""Galata Bankers"". Efendi had a modern building with a market and apartment designed by Italian architect Cleanthy Zanno built on this land. This new building, completed in 1876, housed 24 shops arranged in the style of Paris below and 18 luxury apartments above.
The passage where the shops are located was named ""Hristaki Passage"" and the building was named ""Cite de Pera"". Among the businesses located in the passage were Acemyans tobacco shop, Maison Parret and Vallaurys pastry shop, Japanese store, Natürel florist, Pandelis florist shop, Schumachers bakery, Papadopulos bookbindery, Keserciyans tailor shop, Yorgos tavern, Sideris fur store. In 1908, the building was owned by Grand Vizier Sait Pasha and the name of the passage was changed to ""Sait Pasha Passage"".
In the years of the 1940 Armistice, florists began to settle in the small shops in the passage. White Russian women, barons and duchesses who fled from the October Revolution were also among those who sold flowers here. During this period, Cite de Pera began to be used as a flower auction and the florists in Beyoğlu gathered in the passage. This led to the passage being renamed ""Çiçekçiler Pasajı"". From the 1940s onwards, the opening of beer and taverns in the passage moved the apartment residents and florists to other places and only the word ""flower"" remained in the name of the passage. Yorgo Efendi opened the first tavern in the passage.
In the following years, the passage was restored to its original state with the efforts of the Çiçek Pasajı Beautification and Preservation Association. After the restoration in 1988, it reopened as a tavern and in 2005, the last maintenance and renovation works of the historical building were carried out with the support of Mey İçki A.Ş. The roof and all other visual elements were restored to create a bright, spacious and pleasant environment. The walls of the passage are decorated with paintings of former business owners, a painting of Aydın Boysan, the famous gourmet, architect and writer, who is one of the regulars of the passage, and a painting of accordionist Madam Anahit. With its impressive facade architecture, Çiçek Pasajı (Hristaki Passage-Cite de Pera) continues to be Beyoğlus most ornate building.