Taksim Square

Taksim is the main square of the new, European side of Istanbul and the reference point for the Beyoglu district.

Where the name comes from

The name comes from an eighteenth-century stone distribution reservoir: taksim means division, and it was here that water arriving from the Belgrade Forest was divided among the quarters. The reservoir building of 1732 survives at the edge of the square, and people walk past it without noticing, though it gave the whole district its name.

The monument

The Republic Monument by the Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica, unveiled in 1928, stands at the centre. On one side Ataturk is shown in uniform, on the other in civilian dress among the founders of the state, so the monument reads differently from either side.

What surrounds it

The Ataturk Cultural Centre occupies the north side and the Taksim Mosque, completed in 2021, the east, while pedestrian Istiklal Avenue with its historic red tram runs off to the south-west.

How it has changed

The square has historically been a place for rallies and public celebrations, and its layout has been altered more than once: in the 2000s the traffic was put underground and the surface made continuous. In the evening it fills with people out walking and street vendors, and the sunset picks out the silhouettes of minarets and hotel towers.

Address

Beyoglu, Istanbul · Taksim metro and funicular

Opening hours

Always open

Prices

Free

On the map