This is a 6min. silent, black&white documentary. Filmed in Constantinople, it shows Taksim square with its first open-air alehouses, where the Romioi were at the time the vast majority of the habitants of Peran. Among them, there were as well, a great number of immigrants from the Cycladic Islands, Ionian Islands, Evritania region, Tsakones (indigenous population of the Peloponnesus), Roumeliotes (of the Roumeli region), followed by Levantines, Armenians, Hebrews and few Muslims and Turks notables.
Taksim square was built in 1870 and eventually came to be the first square of Peran, uniting the Tunnel square with the Central Avenue. By the end of the 20th century it was the biggest square of Constantinople.
This documentary belongs to the non-governmental organization “Bosphoris” and was donated by a member in a 16mm negative. The organization managed to finance the necessary film processing in order to save the material which was forgotten for 80 years in a drawer.
Taksim Square, 1927
