Location | Turkey |
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Bankalar Caddesi (Banks Street), also known as Voyvoda Caddesi (Voivode Street), in the historic Galata quarter (present-day Karaköy) of the district of Beyoğlu (Pera) in Istanbul, Turkey, was the financial centre of the late Ottoman Empire. It strikes out west from busy Kemeraltı Caddesi in Karaköy and segues into Okçu Musa Caddesi which leads up to Şişhane and Tepebaşı in Beyoğlu.
Although most of the grand 19th-century buildings that line both sides of the street have survived into the 21st century, they are increasingly being converted into hotels, restaurants and cultural centres.
The southern stop of Tünel (1875), the world's second oldest subterranean railway line after London's Underground (1863), is just minutes' walk away from the eastern end of Bankalar Caddesi. The Karaköy tram stop on the T1 line is also very close to the start of the street.