Beşiktaş

Overview

The ferry swings in toward an old pier building with a tiled roof, and as you step off, Beşiktaş is already loud: simit (a sesame-crusted bread ring) sellers, students, shoppers and football shirts. Behind the square, narrow market lanes smell of fresh bread and coffee. To the south rises Dolmabahçe Palace, and to the north, the Bosphorus shore runs on to Ortaköy and Bebek. This is Beşiktaş, the busy heart of the European shore. For the derby, see our guide to Beşiktaş vs Fenerbahçe.

A Stone Cradle on the Bosphorus

The name means “cradle stone”, and there are several stories behind it. A Byzantine church here kept a stone from the stable in Bethlehem. Another links it to a cradle-shaped stone that a priest brought back from Jerusalem. A third story links it to beş taş, five stones, the mooring posts that the admiral Barbarossa built for his ships.

Either way, the shore here is sheltered from the northeast winds, so ships have always found a safe mooring. The Byzantines called the place Diplokionion, the “double pillar”, after a pair of columns that marked the way into the city by water.

Beşiktaş in Ottoman Times

Later, Barbarossa made Beşiktaş his home, with a palace and a mosque, and his tomb, by Mimar Sinan, still stands by the pier. Next to it, our Naval Museum tour shows the caiques of the sultans. The sultans followed with hunting lodges and great palaces. One of them, the Ihlamur Pavilion, still stands in a green valley above Beşiktaş. In 1876, Sultan Abdülaziz lost his throne at Dolmabahçe, and in 1909, Abdülhamid II lost his at Yıldız. In the old quarter behind the market, Zübeyde Hanım, the mother of Atatürk, once lived.

What to See in Beşiktaş

Çarşı, the market

First, wander into Çarşı (a market street or bazaar), the old market quarter next to the small Abbasağa Park. Its lanes are full of breakfast cafés, delis, bakeries and small shops, and they fill with students and locals at weekends. Order a long Turkish breakfast and watch the neighborhood wake up.

Palaces and museums

Next, walk south to Dolmabahçe Palace, then back along the water to the Istanbul Naval Museum and Barbarossa’s tomb. Uphill, the gardens of Yıldız Park hide pavilions of the last sultans, and our Yıldız Palace tour visits the palace above them, and along the shore stands Çırağan Palace.

Football

Beşiktaş is also the home of a sports club founded in 1903, and its stadium stands near Dolmabahçe. Before home games, fans gather in the market streets of Çarşı. On match days, the whole district wears black and white. Coming up at Beşiktaş Park are Beşiktaş vs Gençlerbirliği on 8 November and Beşiktaş vs Union Saint-Gilloise on 21 January 2027.

The ferries

Finally, take a boat. From the Beşiktaş pier, ferries cross to Üsküdar and Kadıköy on the Asian side, a short and simple Bosphorus ride.

How to Visit Beşiktaş

Reach Beşiktaş by ferry from the Asian side, or by bus along the shore from Kabataş, the end of the tram line.

From here, the Bosphorus villages begin: walk on to the Ortaköy Mosque, then Arnavutköy and Bebek.