It has been the subject of many Turkish movies, Zürafa Sokak is in the center of Karaköy, one of the oldest districts of Istanbul... This place was home to Istanbul's first and only brothel. Zürafa Street brothel, with a history of more than 200 years embodied a "very different" history of Istanbul. The brothel in the middle of two synagogues and a church was also very close to the schools in the neighborhood. At the gate of the state-controlled brothel, there was a police officer assigned by the Police Department. The police would check the identities of customers who came to the brothel, and would reject men under the age of 18 as it was forbidden. Hundreds of women have worked in the brothel throughout its history spanning more than 200 years... Some of them started to work out of desperation to earn a living in a state-controlled place, while others were led to this "road" by the trap of malicious men without realizing their situation... But one thing is for sure, they were all one "physical worker". The houses on the street were private property... The state was collecting taxes from the "commercial activity" here. As a matter of fact, Matild Manukyan, who owned most of the properties on Zürafa Street, paid the tax on her income and became the “tax record holder for İstanbul" for six years in a row.

 

Manukyan, who died in 2001, was actually a high-end tailor who graduated from Notre Dame de Sion High School. She started this job as becoming a partner in one of the brothels in Karaköy, which could not pay the rent of her father's buildings. Later on, the number of brothels she operated on Zürafa Sokak increased to 37, and she became one of the names who owned the most property in Istanbul with her large number of real estates. In fact, the abolition of the historical brothel was on the agenda as early as 1812, followed by attempts in this direction in 1884 and 1920. The historical brothel went down in size during the inheritance problem after Manukyan's death in 2001. But the event that really locked the door of Zürafa Sokak was the coronavirus pandemic two years ago... Along with the pandemic, the brothel on Zürafa Sokak became history. While the street, which was left completely alone, became the place of sniffers, it was also looted by scrap dealers.

 

These are the last pictures of Zürafa Sokak which has witnessed pain, pleasure, jealousy, love, hate, hope, disappointment, happiness, unhappiness and fear for all these years…