Antique Heaven

I found paradise in Fatih. And I don't mean middle-class, shiny, posh antique shops, these are real, dusty stores owned by nostalgic oddballs. A whole building of stores in fact. Floor upon floor, this spot is devoted mainly to furniture but also offers funny trinkets like knives and medals, glass wear, necklaces and textiles.

Each store owner sits in their shop, or more often sits chatting in another shop and comes back if there is a shopper about. Tea and simit (ubiquitous Turkish bagels) salesmen float around the halls with shoppers, to provide sustenance for the workers.

Some notables: a 50s handmade glass light fixture, an art-deco tea set, a life-sized lion, a zebra-print chaise, a Nazi party pin, a silver chainmetal purse, and a throne with red velvet drapery.

Turn off Horhor Cad in Fatih, and onto Kirma Tulumba Sk, and the entrance is right there on Kirma.