Kadıköy

Overview

Take the ferry from Eminönü or Karaköy, and you step ashore on another continent. By city ferry, join our Istanbul ferry tour. Kadıköy lies on the Asian side of Istanbul, where ancient Chalcedon once stood. Today it has a food market, an old opera house, painted walls in Yeldeğirmeni and the home stadium of Fenerbahçe. For the derby, see our guide to Fenerbahçe vs Galatasaray.

An old story calls its founders blind. Walk the market streets first, then Bahariye and Moda. After that, eat at Çiya, and come on a Tuesday for the neighborhood market. For a tasting walk, join our Kadıköy food tour.

Kadıköy in a Few Lines

Kadıköy is a district on the Asian side of Istanbul, east of the Marmara mouth of the Bosphorus, with the Sea of Marmara to the south. It covers about 25 square kilometers (10 square miles). Kadıköy is a transport hub as well: ferries run to Eminönü, Karaköy and Beşiktaş, and the M4 metro starts here. On December 13, the ferries carry fans across for Fenerbahçe vs Trabzonspor at the club’s stadium. In Turkish, its name means "the village of the judge".

From Chalcedon to Kadıköy

The city of the blind

Greek settlers from Megara founded a town here in the 7th century BC: Chalcedon. By tradition, it was founded seventeen years before Byzantion, on the opposite shore. In the story, the Persian general Megabazus heard this at Byzantion and said the people of Chalcedon must have been blind. Otherwise, he reasoned, they would never have chosen the worse site while the better one was free. From this story comes the old name "city of the blind".

A council that divided Christianity

Later, in 451, the Fourth Ecumenical Council met in Chalcedon. It taught that Christ has two natures, divine and human, without mixing or division. However, many Christians in Egypt and Syria rejected its decisions, and the churches of the East split over them.

Kadıköy becomes a district

For a long time, Kadıköy was governed from neighboring Üsküdar. Then, on September 1, 1930, it became a district of Istanbul in its own right. Our Sabiha Gökçen layover tour stops here.

Our Kadıköy Walk: Market, Bull, Opera and Sea

The Kadıköy food market

The streets around Güneşlibahçe Sokak hold Kadıköy's food market. Fishmongers trade here, and pickle shops pour turşu suyu, the sour pickle juice, by the glass. So take your time and taste your way through.

The bull of Altıyol

At the Altıyol junction stands a bull statue. It was made in Paris in 1864 and has stood here since 1987.

Bahariye and the Süreyya Opera

On Bahariye Caddesi stands the Süreyya Opera House. It opened in 1927 as a musical theater on the Asian side of Istanbul. For decades, however, it served as a movie theater, and it reopened as an opera house in 2007. Today it is home to the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet, so we check the State Opera and Ballet program, then book you an evening performance. For tickets, read our guide to opera and ballet in Istanbul.

Moda, Kadıköy by the sea

Moda has its own ferry pier. So you can arrive by boat on the Bostancı–Moda–Karaköy–Kabataş line and return from the main Kadıköy piers.

Haydarpaşa station

Haydarpaşa station entered service in 1908 as the terminus for trains from Anatolia. Later, a fire damaged the building.

How Kadıköy Lives: Markets, Murals and Football

The Kadıköy Tuesday Market

Kadıköy's open-air neighborhood market, the Salı Pazarı ("Tuesday Market"), is held on Tuesdays and Fridays on Uzunçayır Caddesi in Hasanpaşa. Days and stalls can change, so check before you go.

The murals of Yeldeğirmeni

Since 2012, the Mural Istanbul festival has filled Yeldeğirmeni with large wall paintings. Over the following years, artists painted whole facades there and in other parts of the district. Walk the side streets and look up.

Football and fan culture

Kadıköy is home to Fenerbahçe, which plays its home matches at the Şükrü Saracoğlu stadium in Kızıltoprak. We run a football match tour for match days. On November 29, 2026, Erzurumspor visit: see Fenerbahçe vs Erzurumspor. Away from the stadium, Bağdat Avenue runs through the district as well.

Where We Eat in Kadıköy

Plan a slow lunch in Kadıköy. These are the places we take our guests.

How to Visit Kadıköy

Getting to Kadıköy

• By ferry: from Eminönü, where the Spice Bazaar stands, from Karaköy or from Beşiktaş.
• By Marmaray: the rail tunnel under the Bosphorus runs from Sirkeci to Üsküdar. For Kadıköy, change to the M4 metro at Ayrılık Çeşmesi.
• By metro: the M4 line runs from Kadıköy to Sabiha Gökçen Airport.

Local tips for Kadıköy

• Take the ferry both ways and sit on the open deck.
• Come for lunch and stay into the evening.
• With us: our Kadıköy food tour walks the market streets, and our Istanbul Asian side tour ends here after Üsküdar and Kuzguncuk.
• Check the Fenerbahçe fixtures if you love football, or avoid match days if you do not.
• Take the ferry to the Princes’ Islands: boats on the Kabataş–Adalar line call at Kadıköy on the way to Heybeliada and Büyükada.