Kamondo Stairs Istanbul - the hexagonal shortcut in Galata
- Martin
- Apr 25
- 2 min read
Right where Galata slopes down towards Karaköy, you’ll find the Kamondo Stairs. They connect Bankalar Street with the upper streets leading into Pera, just a few minutes from Galata Tower and the Tünel. And people almost always stop here.
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Wedding couples pose for photos. Architecture students study the lines and proportions. Groups of friends, families and visitors sit down on the steps for a moment and take it in.
This isn’t hidden. It’s a place people actively seek out.
The stairs were built in the 1870s by the Jewish banker Abraham Salomon Camondo. The Camondo family was among the most influential financial actors in the late Ottoman Empire and played a role in modernising its economy. Originally from Spain, they fled during the Inquisition, settled in Venice, and eventually established themselves in Constantinople in the late 18th century.
Camondo had the stairs built for his grandchildren. They needed a shorter and safer route between their home in Galata and their school up in Pera.
That explains the shape.
Because the stairs aren’t just aesthetic.
They are designed with soft curves and a broken flow that slows a fall. Instead of one long drop, movement is interrupted along the way. Function first - architecture second.
Stylistically, they’re often described as a mix of Neo-Baroque and early Art Nouveau. That’s fair, but it’s worth keeping in mind that this isn’t a monument. It’s a working staircase - just designed better than most.
By the late 19th century, parts of the Camondo family had moved their operations to Paris, and in the 1890s they closed their businesses in Constantinople. The story takes a much darker turn later. Several members of the family in France were deported during the Holocaust and killed in Auschwitz in 1944.
The stairs remain.
Today, they are both a shortcut and a stop. A place you pass through - and a place you end up lingering a bit longer than planned.
And maybe that’s why they still work. They weren’t built to impress. But they do anyway.
Redigeret: Indlægget er oprindeligt fra 2024. Redigeret og sprogligt opdateret samt video i april 2026
