Karaköy , the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of the Bosphorus.
Karaköy is one of the oldest and most historic districts of the city, and is today an important commercial center and transport hub. It is connected with the surrounding neighborhoods by streets radiating out from Karaköy Square. The Galata Bridge links Karaköy to Eminönü to the southwest, Tersane Street links it to Azapkapı to the west, Voyvoda Street (Bankalar Caddesi) links it to Şişhane to the northwest, the steeply sloping Yüksek Kaldırım Street links it to Pera in the north, and Kemeraltı Street and Necatibey Street link it to Tophane to the northeast.
The commercial quarter, which was originally the meeting place for banks and insurance companies in the 19th century, is today also home to mechanical, electrical, plumbing and electronic parts suppliers.
Karaköy has been a port area since Byzantine times when the north shore of the Golden Horn was a separate settlement facing Stamboul/Constantinople over the water. After the re-conquest of the city from the Latin State in 1261, the Byzantine emperor granted Genoese merchants permission to settle and do business here as part of a defense pact.
The district developed rapidly, and the Genoese built sturdy fortifications to protect themselves and their warehouses. Fragments of the Genoese walls are still visible, but the Galata Tower, at the highest point, is the most substantial relic of the old walled enclave. Fifteenth-century Galata probably looked much more like an Italian city than a Byzantine or Ottoman one.
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Galataport is a 400,000-square-metre (4,300,000 sq ft) mixed-use development located along 1.2 km (0.75 mi) of shore in the Karaköy neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey on the European shore of the Bosporus strait near its confluence with the Golden Horn right in the heart of the city. It includes the city's cruise ship terminal, around 250 shops and restaurants, a Peninsula hotel, the Istanbul Modern art museum, and other cultural and entertainment facilities; the complex also hosts festivals.
Galataport lies just a little way northeast of the ferry terminal at Karaköy which was the city's original terminal for passenger ships. By the late 20th century that site was no longer suitable to accommodate the growing number of ever larger cruise ships wanting to drop anchor in the city so a new site was sought. The location selected had long been home to warehouses associated with the port but most of these had fallen out of use. By the end of the 20th century it was best known as being the location of the Istanbul Modern art gallery (housed in an old warehouse) and a string of nargile (water-pipe) cafes popular with young people. But a line of grand buildings, most stripped of a purpose, stretched north from Karaköy, just waiting to be given new life. Most conspicuous of these was the Paket Postanesi, the old parcel sorting office, but the old Customs Office was also a very striking building.

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