UPDATE: I’ve been told that this is no longer there, which is too bad 🙁
One of the big quandaries in travel lies in whether or not one should do a lot of research before heading out. Surprises and random discoveries are a highlight of a trip but at the same time, randomness can be hard to come across on one’s own. A perfect example of this is the colourful staircase of Istanbul.
During the summer of 2013, a retiree named Huseyin Cetinel decided to paint a public staircase in the district of Beyoglu. It took him four days but when he was done, the result was a dazzling display of colour in the middle of a dreary-looking area. The stairs were an immediate hit. Photos went up online and all across social media. Some people even assumed it was an LGBT project due to the rainbow theme. Mr. Cetinel said he did it because he “wanted to make people smile”. Whatever the reasoning or purpose behind the project, it quickly became part of Istanbul’s political landscape.
On August 30, not long after the stairs got their beauty makeover, the municipal government re-painted the staircase back to the original cement grey. People were pissed. They were angry to the point that the popular hashtag from June’s protests, ResistGeziPark, was duplicated into ResistStairs. The protest spread right across Turkey and people painted their local public stairs rainbow in solidarity. Eventually the municipal government caved and re-re-painted the staircase, this time somewhat back to what Mr. Cetinel did.
How to Get There
Take the metro to the Tophane stop and walk towards the Findikli stop. It is about a 5-10 minute stroll. Retrace your steps to explore Beyoglu or climb the stairs to access the Cihangir area instead!
Love that fact that this happened and that people stood up against the municipal government. There is a similar project in the favellas of Rio de Janeiro, where several artists began painting the ramshackle houses, then obtaining funds to buy paints and brushes for more people who then did their own houses. It really changed the entire, poverty-ridden neighborhood and has become a tourist attraction.
Oh wow – that’s very neat. I love how colour can change things! Thanks for telling me about it (now I’m off to look it up to see it!)
Hi Kendra! I will visit Istambul in may. My hotel will be in Taksim, and i don’t know how to find this place. Can you help me and tell wich transport i should take to get this place.
Hi Mari!
Your best option is to email your hotel. They will be the ones to know best how to get to their location. Many hotels have a taxi service that will meet you in the airport with a sign that has your name on it. This is what I did both times I went to Istanbul – it was the most cost effective and very low-stress. I hope you have a fantastic trip!
Hey, i just visited Istanbul this week. Thank you so much for helping me find them. The colourful stairs are very much there – shiny and bright. These stairs seem to be the one parallel to them, the colour scheme is slightly different if you notice.
Hi Keta! I’m so glad that my post enabled you to find the stairs 🙂 They are fun to see, aren’t they! Thanks very much for coming by to let me know you found them!
Kendra
Fascinating story. I’ll be back in Istanbul in April and will look out for them.
Lucky you! They are pretty cool to see in person – I hope you find them!!
It’s a really neat (and random!) idea to brighten up the urban landscape. It hilarious and kind of telling that the stairs developed such a following.
Is it funny that I feel a little ripped off that the municipal goverment repainted the stairs rather than having Mr. Cetinel (who was maybe fed up) redo it?
i know what you mean. not only should they have had him repaint the stairs, they should have paid him to do so!