Beşiktaş
— — a square where the ferry whistle keeps the time.
Not only on a wall.
“A district on the European shore of Istanbul where the Bosphorus pulls everything toward it. The ferry pier at Beşiktaş İskelesi runs all day to Üsküdar and Kadıköy on the Asian side. The black eagle in the square belongs to the football club; the football club belongs to the neighbourhood. The fish market keeps its own hours.
Beşiktaş, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Beşiktaş is a central coastal district of Istanbul on the European side of the Bosphorus, just north of Galata and Taksim. Around 175,000 people live within the district itself, and many more pass through its ferry pier each day. The Dolmabahçe Palace, the last residence of the Ottoman sultans, sits at its southern edge along the waterfront. The district name translates roughly as 'five stones', a reference to an old anchorage marker. The Ortaköy mosque, Yıldız Park, and the Çırağan Palace all lie within walking distance along the shore northward.
The Bosphorus shapes everything here. The strait runs about 31 km between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and the Beşiktaş pier sits on one of its busiest commuter crossings. Ferries, the yellow-and-white Şehir Hatları boats, leave every few minutes for Üsküdar and Kadıköy on the Asian shore, a twenty-minute ride. Tea is served in tulip glasses on the upper deck. In autumn and winter the surface current can run fast enough that the captain announces it; in summer the water turns the colour of weak slate.
Beşiktaş is one of the simpler stops in Istanbul to reach by ferry, tram, or the M6 metro line that climbs from Levent. The Saturday street market spreads through the side streets above Şair Nedim Caddesi. Match days at Vodafone Park fill the area with black-and-white scarves and a crowd; the stadium sits beside Dolmabahçe Palace, which itself closes on Mondays and Thursdays. The fish restaurants along the lower square open from late morning; the meyhanes along Çardak Caddesi begin to fill after dark.