10 urban heritage sites Istanbul lost in 2000s

"The Justice and Development Party's [AKP] era is remembered and will be remembered fıor construction,” Hürriyet Daily News columnist Mustafa Sönmez wrote in January. As the construction boom continues, despite warnings about a housing bubble, Istanbul has lost much of its “urban memory” in the past decade with damaged, moved or badly restored historic buildings and cultural assets, victimized by the ever-increasing appetite for shopping malls. Here are 10 such assets, in random order:

1) Cinema Theaters

Majik Cinema, Turkey’s first cinema built in 1914 in the heart of the Beyoğlu neighborhood, was demolished and replaced by a shopping mall and hotel in 2007. Two more historic cinemas in the same neighborhood experienced a similar fate. Saray Cinema, which was built in the 1920s, became a shopping mall with a new façade in 2010, while Emek Theater, the historic home of Turkish cinema, was demolished in 2013 despite protests. (Click here to read more about this story)

2) Ä°nci Patisserie

The patisserie, which was founded by Lucas Zigoridis in 1944 and quickly become famous with its delicious profiterole, had to vacate its historic venue in 2012 under the transformation of the Cercle d’Orient complex, which also hosted Emek Theater, into a shopping mall. (Click here to read more about this story)

3) Robinson Crusoe Bookstore

The iconic English-language bookstore Robinson Crusoe, which opened almost 20 years ago in Beyoğlu, has been forced to move from its well-known location on the central İstiklal Avenue. The store issued a goodbye message criticizing the recent invasion of chain brands on Istanbul’s main pedestrian avenue. (Click here to...