Rainbow Stairs

The Rainbow Stairs in Istanbul's Kadıköy district are an ordinary outdoor staircase painted in rainbow colors by a local resident in 2013, initially as a simple act of neighborhood beautification rather than political statement. The story gained wider resonance when city workers repainted the steps grey shortly after, prompting residents to immediately restore the colors — an episode that circulated widely online as a small act of civic defiance. Today the stairs are a frequent photo stop in the bustling Kadıköy neighborhood, though with a Google rating of 3.4 from 284 reviews they tend to underwhelm visitors expecting a formal attraction; their real significance is the community story behind them rather than any visual spectacle.