Nişantaşı

Nisantasi in the European Istanbul district of Sisli is the city's wealthiest shopping quarter, an Ottoman Belle Epoque seamlessly translated into the present-day luxury scene. The name means Target Stone and refers to markers erected in the 19th century to commemorate the marksmanship of Ottoman sultans. The quarter today consists of the four neighbourhoods Tesvikiye, Osmanbey, Macka and Pangalti; along Tesvikiye, Vali Konagi and Abdi Ipekci streets the storefronts of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Turkish designers stretch on. Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk grew up here and immortalised the neighbourhood in his novel Cevdet Bey and His Sons; his Museum of Innocence sits only a few blocks away. Cafes, galleries and Art Nouveau apartment buildings complement the boutiques.