The most beautiful sea
hasn’t been crossed yet.
The most beautiful child
hasn’t grown up yet.
Our most beautüful days
We haven’t seen yet.
And the most beautiful words I wanted to
tell you
I haven’t said yet…’
Nazım Hikmet
Moda Ferry Station is now a cafe and a co-working space
These are the lines of the famous Turkish poet Nazım Hikmet and they are engraved on a side walk in my most favourite neighbourhood in İstanbul, overlooking the beautiful sea of Marmara. The neighbourhood is Moda. What makes it so special is that it has always been home to the most progressive, most liberal and most intellectual people in the city. It is a neighbourhood where you will always be greeted by the local shopkeepers, where men and women of all ages feel free to fall in love and live life to its fullest, where you can hear your neighbour playing the piano, where street animals are warmly welcomed, where young feel free and where old feel at home with bygone memories of their old İstanbul.
A street cat in Moda, befriending a duck
The neighbourhood is located along the coast line that overlooks the sea of Marmara which gives you a sense of freedom. Most buildings are old, carrying the soul of a bygone Istanbul—where architecture was modest and human-scale, embellished with fine details, and where balconies were an integral part of the living space.
Nostalgic tram of Moda
I also love Moda’s inhabitants with their diversity, intellectual depth, love for animals, liberal outlook on life and their cosmopolitanism. It is one of the few neighbourhoods in İstanbul I feel free as a woman.
I love roaming in its streets watching its street cats, dropping by its boutique stores, having a chat with its shopkeepers, enjoying a concert in one of its venues, dining in one of its restaurants, lighting a candle in one of its many Churches or simply sipping a cup of Turkish coffee in one of its cafes!
An old post-card showing Moda
Moda is a neighbourhood with a strong heritage. It has been the home to the Christian minorities for decades who brought the latest fashion to the city. Imagine that these were the British and Italian merchants who had come to Levant (the East) with their customs, music, dances, religious ceremonies and costumes. They had built beautiful mansions and held garden parties and celebrated Christmas for decades in Moda.
Looking at Fenerbahçe from Moda (visual has been enhanced by AI)
Levanten ladies of Moda, late 1900s
Levanten Whittall Family in Moda, 1901. The family’s Church is still functioning. You can visit All Saints Moda for the sunday mass
A reminder of old Levantine families, the House of Mr. Dawson, now Barış Manço Museum
Moda was also one of the first neighbourhoods where people in İstanbul had contact with sea. It was here where people started swimming and sailing.
An old photo showing the first İstanbulites enjoying the sea and the sun in early 1900s
Moda is a neighbourhood that constantly recreates itself with its cafes, restaurants, patisseries, vintage shops, book stores and design stores. There is almost always something that surprises you in every corner, either a new book shop or a designer store or a new cafe with a fancy menu!
Aida Osteria is one of the fine dining restauransts in Moda
So if one day you want to live in İstanbul or simply spend time with yourself, consider visiting Moda during the week day to avoid the crowds and enjoy one of the last examples of an old İstanbul neighbourhood where there is still a sense of heritage and community, cosmopolitanism in the true sense and ‘joie de vivre’!
All Saints Church in Moda
