Colorful houses

The painted wooden houses of Istanbul's Fener-Balat district are a popular photography spot along the Golden Horn. The Ottoman-era residential buildings, their facades daubed in vivid yellows, reds and blues, sit within one of the city's oldest Christian and Jewish neighborhoods: Balat was home to Sephardic Jews for centuries, while Fener remained the center of Istanbul's Greek Orthodox community. Today the spot draws visitors looking for a colorful contrast to the city's otherwise muted streetscapes, though the modest review score (3.7 from 73 ratings) suggests the real-life impression can fall short of curated photographs.