From Tahmis Street to Venice Squares: A Coffee Story
It all started with a mysterious chest brought to Istanbul by Özdemir Pasha, the Governor of Yemen in the 16th century.
They were not mistaken; in the near future, coffee would become the most popular beverage in these lands, influencing social life all the way to Europe.
The people of the palace instantly fell in love with coffee. In fact, it was so admired that coffee soon became the most special beverage at exclusive events. A rank called ‘kahvecibaşı’ was even created in the palace. Kahvecibaşı was always with the sultan and knew how to keep secrets very well.
Before long, coffee started to be brought from Yemen by the tonnes and became a sumptuous beverage that showed the hospitality of the mansions and mansions. However, the fame of coffee was too great to be confined within four walls. Finally, when the dates show 1554, the time of freedom comes for the beans roasted and pounded in pans in houses! Coffee has moved from coffee pots to cups, and from cups to the streets.
This unprecedented flavour was soon discovered by Venetian merchants. What is discovered is not only coffee but also the street culture that lives on Tahmil Street. These spaces, where people socialise, share and discuss the completely different agendas of the classes in social life, once again cross borders and move to Europe.
In 1720, Europe's first coffee shop opens in Venice's Piazza San Marco. The café, which was only two rooms and basic furnishings at the time of its opening, quickly becomes famous as it is the only coffee house where women are allowed to enter. The culture of the Ottoman streets begins to manifest itself in Vendik Square. The café, which had respected regulars such as Carlo Goldoni, Goethe and Casanova, later hosted writers such as Marcel Proust, Lord Byron and Charles Dickens, who built their dreams after the smell of coffee. Coffee, which has been the most delicious bridge of the encounter between cultures for centuries, turns into the story of a flamboyant adventure from Tahmil Sokak to the squares of Venice and from there to the whole world.
"There is coffee on the tops of the Galata Tower and Bayezid Tower, there is coffee on the ferries, there is coffee in the cemetery, there is coffee in the public offices and baths, there is coffee in the bazaar. Wherever one is in Istanbul, it is enough to shout just one word without looking around: ‘Kahveci’... Three minutes later, a coffee is smoking in front of you."
Italian writer Edmondo de Amicis