Escalators to be installed on Istanbul slopes

ISTANBUL

'Rainbow' steps linking the Istanbul neighborhoods of Cihangir and Fındıklı

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has initiated a project seeking to install escalators on the city’s steep slopes, in a particular move to ease the lives of the disabled and elderly. 

The tender to be conducted by the municipality on July 23 currently covers three streets located in the Beyoğlu, Fatih, and Eyüp districts, but the project is expected to cover other districts in the upcoming periods, daily Habertürk reported on June 27.

The name of the street in the Beyoğlu district is “Salı Pazarı Yokuşu,” which connects the neighborhoods of Karaköy and Cihangir. The 85-meter-long slope with colorful rainbow stairs stands as a symbol of the nationwide Gezi Park protests that continued through the summer of 2013. 

The stairs were transformed into rich rainbow colors in 2013 in the span of a week by a local named Hüseyin Çetinel. However, local authorities intervened within days and the stairs were painted back to their original dusty-grey color.

Pictures demonstrating the stairs before and after the municipality’s intervention went viral on social media at the time, motivating people to pick up their brushes and color stairs across the country in support of Çetinel.

These steps, dubbed “rainbow stairs” since then, currently stand as a colorful reminder of the Gezi Park protests. 

The second escalators will be installed on a 50-meter-long slope connecting Atatürk Avenue and Fil Yokuşu Street in the Fatih district.

The third escalators will be installed on 50-meter-long Neşe Street, connecting Ecdat Street and Sayfiye Street.