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HISTORY / CULTURE
The Coffeehouses of Constantinople
How did a cup of coffee become a place for conversation? A short journey into the beginnings of Constantinople’s coffeehouses.
Read the film transcript
Coffee didn’t just arrive in Constantinople. It changed where the city met. Ottoman chronicles place Hakem of Aleppo and Shams of Damascus in Tahtakale around 1554–55, each opening a coffeehouse. The innovation was not only the drink. It was a room between home, mosque, marketplace, and street, where men gathered to talk, work, and hear stories. Centuries later, the city’s coffeehouses numbered in the thousands. Two arrivals had helped turn a cup into social infrastructure—and into part of the city’s rhythm.
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Reed & Marble is an independent publishing and media platform exploring stories, history, literature and ideas across cultures.
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