 The 136th anniversary of Istanbul Karaköy Tünel is being celebrated with a book written by French Eugene Henri Gavand and translated into Turkish. |
To mark the 136th anniversary of the establishment of the Tünel in central Istanbul, the Istanbul Public Transport Authority, or İETT, has translated French engineer Eugene Henri Gavand’s book “Tunnel de Constantinople” (Istanbul Tunnel), which he released in 1876 in Paris, into Turkish for a new edition.
The Tünel was originally conceived by Gavand, who came to the city as a tourist in 1867. Its purpose was to provide an easy ride between the neighborhoods of Pera in Beyoğlu and Galata in Karaköy, both of which were in the relatively newer part of Istanbul, on the northern shore of the Golden Horn.
Many people used to work in Galata, close to sea level, and live uphill in Pera, about 60 meters higher. The only direct street connecting the two, Yüksek Kaldırım, is steep and narrow; at the time of the construction of the Tünel, it was crowded with 40,000 pedestrians a day. Gavand conceived of the Tünel as a kind of elevator ascending and descending that would greatly ease the journey.
After two years of negotiations, Gavand received permission from Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz to start the project, with a 42-year concession to operate it. Today the Tünel is a part of the municipal transport network and serves some 12,000 people daily.
The Tünel was originally conceived by Gavand, who came to the city as a tourist in 1867. Its purpose was to provide an easy ride between the neighborhoods of Pera in Beyoğlu and Galata in Karaköy, both of which were in the relatively newer part of Istanbul, on the northern shore of the Golden Horn.
Many people used to work in Galata, close to sea level, and live uphill in Pera, about 60 meters higher. The only direct street connecting the two, Yüksek Kaldırım, is steep and narrow; at the time of the construction of the Tünel, it was crowded with 40,000 pedestrians a day. Gavand conceived of the Tünel as a kind of elevator ascending and descending that would greatly ease the journey.
After two years of negotiations, Gavand received permission from Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz to start the project, with a 42-year concession to operate it. Today the Tünel is a part of the municipal transport network and serves some 12,000 people daily.
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