Ortaköy Square

This guide to Ortaköy Square in Istanbul walks the short stretch of waterfront where an active mosque, synagogue and Greek Orthodox church all face the same water, starting with the Büyük Mecidiye Mosque that Sultan Abdülmecid I commissioned in 1853 from the Armenian Christian Balyan family, architects of Dolmabahçe Palace. It follows the square's centuries as a border neighborhood between empires and continents, up to the 1973 bridge that finally joined Europe and Asia. Weekend stalls and stands selling kumpir, the loaded baked potato, still line the square today.