Taksim Square

The name gives the game away. "Taksim" means "division" or "distribution" in Arabic, because this was originally the point where Istanbul's main water supply from the Belgrade Forest was divided and piped to different parts of the city. Sultan Mahmud I ordered the stone reservoir built in 1732, and the square grew around it. The plumbing is long gone, but the name stuck, and it became one of the most politically charged public spaces in Turkey.

The Republic Monument at the center, sculpted by Italian artist Pietro Canonica and unveiled in 1928, depicts Atatürk in two roles — as a military commander leading the War of Independence and as a statesman in civilian dress ushering in the Republic. At 11 meters tall, it stands as a permanent reminder that modern Turkey was born from the wreckage of an empire. The monument faces south toward the old city, as if deliberately turning its back on the Ottoman past.

Taksim Square has witnessed some of Istanbul's most significant moments of public expression. The 2013 Gezi Park protests began just adjacent to the square when plans to demolish Taksim Gezi Park — the green space created in 1940 on the site of demolished Ottoman artillery barracks — sparked a nationwide wave of protests. The square is also the traditional gathering point for May Day demonstrations, which have been both celebrated and violently suppressed here at different points in Turkish history.

The recently renovated Atatürk Cultural Center (reopened 2021) anchors the eastern side of the square, its bold modern design facing the Taksim Square Mosque (also opened 2021) across the plaza. Old and new, secular and sacred — the square contains all of Istanbul's contradictions in a single open space.