PodcastIconic Istanbul bookshop on İstiklal Avenue to turn into falafel restaurant
Iconic Denizler Bookshop on Istanbul's İstiklal Avenue will be closing its doors due to financial struggles and will move to the nearby Kuledibi district, the business said on Oct. 1. According to various reports, the space will be turned into a falafel shop.
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Iconic Denizler Bookshop on Istanbul's Istiklal Avenue will be shuttering its doors in early October, the management said on Oct. 1.
Established in 1993, the book shop was home to rare manuscripts, old maps and rare works of calligraphy alongside regular publications.
Financial struggles have forced the book shop to move to a new location in the nearby Kuledibi district, while their original space will be turned into a falafel shop, according to various reports.
"This place was a living, breathing memory. Even its stairs leading up to the upper story where book and ephemera fans could chat contained history. It was İstiklal's gem smelling of books. I have just found out that it will be closed down in three days. It seems that it will be turned into a falafel shop," author Hasan Mert Kaya tweeted on Sept. 29.
İstiklâl Caddesi, Denizler Kitapevi. Yaşayan, nefes alan bir hafızaydı. Kitap, efemera meraklılarının keyifli sohbetlerinin yapıldığı üst kata çıkan merdivenleri bile bir tarihti. İstiklâlin kitap kokan süsüydü. Az önce üç gün sonra kapanacağını öğrendim. Falafelci oluyormuş.😞 pic.twitter.com/scD3QRjSkw
— Hasan Mert Kaya (@kayamerthasan_) September 29, 2021
Historic businesses in Istanbul, particularly in the Beyoğlu district, have had to close down or move as a result of financial problems over the past decade.
The trend could be pinned down to have started in 2012, when the iconic İnci Patisserie had to move its operations from its shop on İstiklal Avenue where it opened its doors in 1944.
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