Galataport set to inspire other cruise terminals in world: Forbes

ISTANBUL

Galataport in Istanbul is among the eight best cruise terminals in the world as per the renowned U.S.-based Forbes magazine.

The article, recently penned by Ann Abel, a travel columnist for Forbes magazine, drew attention to the design, construction and functional features of Galataport.

“It’s an audacious new approach that is an engineering marvel and incorporating just about every type of construction.”

Galataport, where the passenger terminal is hidden underground, refers to the famous cisterns of Istanbul, according to Abel.

“Thanks to the lighting design, you forget that you are underground,” Abel said.

“Overhead, the developers created an entirely new, organic-feeling neighborhood of museums, shops, restaurants, cafés, town squares for small concerts and a nearly mile-long promenade,” the columnist said, underlining that it had, until then, been nearly a no-man’s-land.

Galataport is a cruise ship port and mixed-use property unit in Istanbul with 1,200 meters of city-center shoreline. The site, which cost $1.8 billion, was opened in April 2021, after a year’s postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Especially in a lot of European cities, the cruise terminals are out of scale with the historic buildings in front of them, Abel said, adding that a few terminals don’t detract from a city’s beautiful and traditional character but, rather, add something to it.

“Maybe it’s an appealing shape, or architectural significance or, in one place, the ability to disappear altogether,” the columnist added.

The cruise terminals in Portugal, Singapore, Malta, Qatar, Japan, Greece and Canada have also managed to make it on the list.

“The terminal in the port of Leixões, which was opened as the gateway to Portugal’s second city, Porto, is graceful, swirling and swooping edifice, alive with civic activity,” Abel said.

Abel also pointed out that mirroring its surroundings, the facilities of Valetta Cruise Port in Malta have a millennia-old history.

The waterfront, which won the European Union’s Europa Award for Cultural Heritage, includes 19 warehouses built in the late Baroque period, in the 18th century, with colorful doors and window shades, according to Abel.

Canada Place, which has a tent-like roof design lit up by night, in Vancouver quickly became an urban landmark after it was inaugurated in 2001, Abel said.

“The designers made the terminal an anchor of a large complex with other uses such as convention center, hotels, shops, and a cinema, the columnist added.

Ann Abel is an award-winning travel writer and editor who has written about more than 700 luxury destinations and hotels in 100 countries.

Prior to Forbes, she shared her views in Departures, Conde Nast Traveler, Robb Report, Afar, National Geographic Traveler and some other publications.