Meyhane
Encyclopedia
A meyhane is a traditional restaurant
or bar
in historical Iran
, Turkey
and Balkans
region. The word of meyhane comes from persian and the meaning is the place where people drink wine. "Meyhane" is composed of two Persian
words: mey (wine) and hane (house).
. Meyhane culture continues as a part of seaboard city when merchants came to city they had time and money to spend their time with drinking. During the period of Ottoman Empire
the number of meyhane was increased.
Some sultans prohibited alcohol at various times but it didn’t effect the number of meyhane. Muslim population usually complies with religious rules on the other hand no one interfered in the convention of minority population. A major part of minority population was living in Galata
and as a result of this there are too much meyhane in that district. But there were also lots of muslim client which they came secretly.
The period of II. Selim, Damat Ferit Paşa cheers the public and meyhane re-opened again and the period of pleasure started one more time. However when meyhane opened in a muslim district sultan mandated a new law and according to it opening meyhane were banned just in muslim districts.
In the 17. century the restaurants of nowadays bosphorus used to be in haliç
. In these meyhane janissary
clients were called “Dayi” and everyone was showing respect to them. While the janissaries were in the meyhane, corner boy (baldırı çıplak) and vagabonds(külhanbeyleri) couldn’t enter there. Even if they entered, there weren’t any janissary and they could only drink afoot. These type of meyhane were called “Gedikli Meyhaneler”. After Abdülaziz
their name changed to “Selatin Meyhaneler”
Another type of meyhane were called “Koltuk Meyhanesi”. These were for vagabonds and corner boys. These meyhane were illegal they were selling alcohol underhand in grocery stores. Some of these “Koltuk Meyhanesi” were called “Kibar koltukları” and these types of meyhane served to civil servants and clerks who did not drink at their home.
There were also “Ayaklı Meyhanesi” for vagabonds and corner boys. These were mobile meyhane and most of the sellers were Armenians. They were always walking around Bahçekapı, Yemiş İskelesi and Galata
. When they saw their clients, they entered in a grocery, poured the wine into a pot taken from his belt which was warmed by his body heat and served to his client. Vagabonds and the others used fresh fruit as a meze. After drinking the wine they wiped off their mouth by the back of their hands and left the grocery. This gesture was called “yumruk mezesi”.
Gedikli Meyhaneleri of Istanbul were famous for their cleanliness of their kitchen and the skills of their cook especially in fish and meat meals. This type of meyhane had high and large ceilings and also there was a barrel which came from Malta or Agean islands. On the tables there was a candlestick and the meze plates were put around it. The chairs were usually short and wooden. “Safa” meyhanesi is the only model from past to present which has the same interior design of the old days.
After the 1830’s Yedikule, Samatya
, Kocamustafapaşa, Langa
, Kumkapı
, Fener
, Balat, Galata
, Ortaköy
Arnavutköy
, Tarabya
, Büyükdere, Çengelköy
, Üsküdar
and Kadıköy
became popular with their meyhane.
Until 1850’s clients preferred wine to rakı
however in these years rakı became more popular and thus meyhane changed to a place where people drank rakı.
In 1920 while Istanbul was under military occupation, Americans made a research and according to results in Istanbul:
British had 1 restaurant; Greeks had 171 restaurants, 26 caffes, 444 beerhouses; Czechs had 2 restaurants; Germans had 2 restaurants; Armenians had 13 restaurants, 1 caffe, 15 beerhouses; Turks had 35 restaurants, 4 beerhouses.
During the Republic period meyhane in Galata started to close and new ones have been opened in Beyoğlu
. Meyhane started to open in Asmalımescit, Çiçek Pasajı
and Krepen Pasajı since 1930 have been popular until 1980’s. During those days the tables were covered by white table clothes and the clients were wearing neckties. Although there weren’t too many types of meze, they were all prepared in the restaurant. Besides meze some of them had fish and some of them had grill. The owners of the meyhane started to work in their early ages in meyhane . Meyhane always remembered with their owners which they called Barba and usually they were from minority population. Unfortunately most of the minority, specially Greeks had to leave the country due to the political problems.
In 1980’s bars and beerhouses became popular and meyhane lost its popularity, second reason is when Barbas left the country new meyhane owners hadn’t have this meyhane culture and the quality level of meyhane lowered. After years to take more attention to the meyhane, meyhane owners raised the number of meze and meals and they started to make new activities like fasıl
.
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
or bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
in historical Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
region. The word of meyhane comes from persian and the meaning is the place where people drink wine. "Meyhane" is composed of two Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
words: mey (wine) and hane (house).
History
History of meyhane starts from Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. Meyhane culture continues as a part of seaboard city when merchants came to city they had time and money to spend their time with drinking. During the period of Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
the number of meyhane was increased.
Some sultans prohibited alcohol at various times but it didn’t effect the number of meyhane. Muslim population usually complies with religious rules on the other hand no one interfered in the convention of minority population. A major part of minority population was living in Galata
Galata
Galata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...
and as a result of this there are too much meyhane in that district. But there were also lots of muslim client which they came secretly.
The period of II. Selim, Damat Ferit Paşa cheers the public and meyhane re-opened again and the period of pleasure started one more time. However when meyhane opened in a muslim district sultan mandated a new law and according to it opening meyhane were banned just in muslim districts.
In the 17. century the restaurants of nowadays bosphorus used to be in haliç
Halic
Halic may refer to:* Halič - a village in Slovakia* Haliç - a village in Turkey* The Golden Horn...
. In these meyhane janissary
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...
clients were called “Dayi” and everyone was showing respect to them. While the janissaries were in the meyhane, corner boy (baldırı çıplak) and vagabonds(külhanbeyleri) couldn’t enter there. Even if they entered, there weren’t any janissary and they could only drink afoot. These type of meyhane were called “Gedikli Meyhaneler”. After Abdülaziz
Abdülâziz
Abdülaziz I or Abd Al-Aziz, His Imperial Majesty was the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned between 25 June 1861 and 30 May 1876...
their name changed to “Selatin Meyhaneler”
Another type of meyhane were called “Koltuk Meyhanesi”. These were for vagabonds and corner boys. These meyhane were illegal they were selling alcohol underhand in grocery stores. Some of these “Koltuk Meyhanesi” were called “Kibar koltukları” and these types of meyhane served to civil servants and clerks who did not drink at their home.
There were also “Ayaklı Meyhanesi” for vagabonds and corner boys. These were mobile meyhane and most of the sellers were Armenians. They were always walking around Bahçekapı, Yemiş İskelesi and Galata
Galata
Galata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...
. When they saw their clients, they entered in a grocery, poured the wine into a pot taken from his belt which was warmed by his body heat and served to his client. Vagabonds and the others used fresh fruit as a meze. After drinking the wine they wiped off their mouth by the back of their hands and left the grocery. This gesture was called “yumruk mezesi”.
Gedikli Meyhaneleri of Istanbul were famous for their cleanliness of their kitchen and the skills of their cook especially in fish and meat meals. This type of meyhane had high and large ceilings and also there was a barrel which came from Malta or Agean islands. On the tables there was a candlestick and the meze plates were put around it. The chairs were usually short and wooden. “Safa” meyhanesi is the only model from past to present which has the same interior design of the old days.
After the 1830’s Yedikule, Samatya
Samatya
Samatya is a neighborhood of the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the Marmara Sea, and borders to the west on the neighborhood of Yedikule . The name originates from the Greek word Ψαμάθιον Samatya is a neighborhood of the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the Marmara...
, Kocamustafapaşa, Langa
Langa
Langa may mean:*Langa, Estonia, a village in Padise Commune, Harju County, Estonia*Langa, Greece, a village in the southern part of Kastoria*Langa, Cape Town, the oldest township in Cape Town, South Africa...
, Kumkapı
Kumkapi
Kumkapı is part of the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the Marmara Sea. Up to recent times, Kumkapı was mostly inhabited by Armenians, who still have a community school and several churches there. It is also the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople...
, Fener
Fener
Fener is a neighborhood midway up the Golden Horn within the district of Fatih in Istanbul , Turkey. The streets in the area are full of historic wooden houses, churches, and synagogues dating from Byzantine and Ottoman eras. The area's name is a Turkish transliteration of the original Greek φανάρι...
, Balat, Galata
Galata
Galata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...
, Ortaköy
Ortaköy
Ortaköy is a neighbourhood, formerly a small village, within the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, located in the middle of the European bank of the Bosphorus....
Arnavutköy
Arnavutköy
Arnavutköy is a historic neighborhood in Istanbul, Turkey, famous for its wooden Ottoman mansions and fish restaurants as well as the prestigious Robert College campus with its centennial buildings...
, Tarabya
Tarabya
Tarabya is a neighbourhood in Sarıyer district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is located on the European shores of the Bosphorus, between the neighbourhoods of Yeniköy and Kireçburnu....
, Büyükdere, Çengelköy
Çengelköy
Çengelköy is a neighborhood in the Üsküdar district on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, Turkey, between the neighborhoods of Beylerbeyi and Kuleli. It is mainly a residential district...
, Üsküdar
Üsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
and Kadıköy
Kadiköy
Kadıköy is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district of İstanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the Sea of Marmara, facing the historic city centre on the European side of the Bosporus...
became popular with their meyhane.
Until 1850’s clients preferred wine to rakı
Raki
-Alcoholic beverages:*Rakı, an anise-flavored spirit popular in Turkey*Any anise-flavored drink.-Fictional characters:*Raki, a character in the manga/anime series Claymore*Raki, a character in the game Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica...
however in these years rakı became more popular and thus meyhane changed to a place where people drank rakı.
In 1920 while Istanbul was under military occupation, Americans made a research and according to results in Istanbul:
British had 1 restaurant; Greeks had 171 restaurants, 26 caffes, 444 beerhouses; Czechs had 2 restaurants; Germans had 2 restaurants; Armenians had 13 restaurants, 1 caffe, 15 beerhouses; Turks had 35 restaurants, 4 beerhouses.
During the Republic period meyhane in Galata started to close and new ones have been opened in Beyoğlu
Beyoglu
Beyoğlu is a district located on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn...
. Meyhane started to open in Asmalımescit, Çiçek Pasajı
Çiçek Pasaji
Çiçek Pasajı , originally called the Cité de Péra, is a famous historic passage on İstiklal Avenue in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey...
and Krepen Pasajı since 1930 have been popular until 1980’s. During those days the tables were covered by white table clothes and the clients were wearing neckties. Although there weren’t too many types of meze, they were all prepared in the restaurant. Besides meze some of them had fish and some of them had grill. The owners of the meyhane started to work in their early ages in meyhane . Meyhane always remembered with their owners which they called Barba and usually they were from minority population. Unfortunately most of the minority, specially Greeks had to leave the country due to the political problems.
In 1980’s bars and beerhouses became popular and meyhane lost its popularity, second reason is when Barbas left the country new meyhane owners hadn’t have this meyhane culture and the quality level of meyhane lowered. After years to take more attention to the meyhane, meyhane owners raised the number of meze and meals and they started to make new activities like fasıl
Fasil
The fasıl is a suite in Ottoman classical music. It is similar to the Arabic nawba and waslah.A classical fasıl generally includes movements such as taksim, peşrev, kâr, beste, ağır semâ'î, yürük semâ'î, gazel, şarkı and saz semâ'î, played continuously without interludes and interconnected through...
.
Cuisine
A typical menu in a meyhane- Haydari
- Cacık (yogurt,cucumber,garlic)
- Patlıcan salatası(eggplant salad)
- Semizotu
- Pilaki(beans)
- Feta cheese
- Melon
- Seafood;octopus,shrimp,marinated sea bass
- Wine
- RakıRaki-Alcoholic beverages:*Rakı, an anise-flavored spirit popular in Turkey*Any anise-flavored drink.-Fictional characters:*Raki, a character in the manga/anime series Claymore*Raki, a character in the game Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica...