Aznavur Passage

The construction date of Aznavur Passage, which is one of the rare examples of "Art Nouveau" style passages that survived from 1900s to the present day, is not known exactly.

Aznavur Passage having a unique location on Rumeli side of the Bosphorus is also close to Istiklal Streey in the Beyoğlu district. Aznavur Passage, which opens to Meşrutiyet Caddesi on one end and Galatasaray Yapı Kredi building on İstiklal Street on the other, has undergone extensive restoration in 1989 and 1993.

Aznavur Passage being a nine-story building in total bears the traces of Italian architecture in general terms. Today, there are also activity areas such as village Cafe, internet cafe, billiard hall, dance hall and painting workshop in the historical passage with cafeterias as well as 28 shops. The passage opens at 07:00 every morning and the outer main door of the passage closes at 01:00 at night. If there is someone or a customer working inside after this time, the passage remains open until morning.

In 1893, buildings called Cafe Commerce and Cafe de Pera were located in the same place where Aznavur Passage is located today. The architect of Aznavur Passage, which was built after the demolition of these two buildings, is Hovsep Aznavuryan of Armenian origin, the designer of the famous Egyptian Apartment. The name of Aznavur Passage, which was originally designed as a two-storey building but later turned into a nine-storey building, comes from the surname of its architect Hovsep.

The exterior of Aznavur Passage, of which upper floor became a balcony as a result of the restoration it underwent in 1993 in accordance with its original structure, is completely covered with Art Nouveau decorations. It is possible to find all kinds of things you need in the gift shops and clothing stores downstairs.