Istanbul: The Cosmopolitan City — Galata, Karaköy, Jewish Quarter

Where did sultans, merchants, bankers, and exiles shape Istanbul's most cosmopolitan district? Explore Galata and Karaköy through the communities and institutions that made them a crossroads of empires. Begin at Tophane Pavilion and the Ottoman Baroque Nusretiye Mosque, then step inside a Russian Orthodox church hidden above a 19th-century building. Cross Galata Bridge, climb the Kamondo Stairs built by a Sephardic banking family, and discover the Levantine world around St. Pierre Han. Continue into the Jewish heritage of Galata around Neve Shalom and the Quincentennial Museum (admission not included), before ending beneath the Galata Tower, where entry is also optional and not included. A small-group walk through the Ottoman, Jewish, Russian, and Levantine histories that made Galata cosmopolitan.