Like other great world cities of the Mediterranean basin such as Naples, Palermo, or Cairo, Istanbul has been the subject of countless literary and visual accounts by travelers, Orientalists, photographers, and artists over many centuries. Along with the legendary silhouette of mosques and minarets crowning the hilltops, most of these representations have depicted a dense urban fabric of two­ or three­story wooden houses along narrow winding streets, among ample greenery and gardens. For almost five centuries, these images have defined the city’s unique urban form and identity, preserved more or less intact until about the mid­twentieth century.1