Çiçek Pasajı

This guide to Çiçek Pasajı in Istanbul follows the iron-and-glass arcade through the Russian noblewomen who fled the 1917 revolution and ended up selling flowers under its roof, and the meyhane taverns that later took their place, starting with one called Yorgo's Winehouse. Along the way it traces how the passage got its Turkish name once its French origins were forgotten. It also reaches back to what stood on this exact site before the arcade was built. Listen for the story behind the name change as much as the one behind the address.