Sirkeci Station

You're standing in front of Sirkeci station, the final stop on one of the most legendary journeys in the world. For decades, passengers who had set out from Paris stepped down here from the luxury carriages of the Orient Express, just a few steps from the Bosphorus.

1A train heading east

The Orient Express began running in 1883, but at first the journey to Constantinople meant switching between train and boat. A direct rail link arrived at the end of that decade, and the city needed a station worthy of it. The job went to the Prussian architect August Jasmund, who taught at Istanbul's polytechnic school. Work began in 1888 and the building opened on 3 November 1890.

2The East as dreamed by Europe

Jasmund combined horseshoe arches, two-tone brickwork and stained glass with the structure of a modern station, complete with gas lighting and tiled stoves. The result is one of the finest examples of European Orientalism: the East as an architect from Berlin imagined it.

In 1934, Agatha Christie set the start of the journey in «Murder on the Orient Express» in Istanbul.

The direct service from Paris ended in 1977. After years of decline, long-distance trains stopped arriving in 2013 because of the works for Marmaray, the rail tunnel under the Bosphorus. Today the building houses the Istanbul Railway Museum and, since 2024, its platforms have once again welcomed commuter trains.

3What to look for

• The rose windows of coloured glass above the main entrance.
• The two towers framing the central block of the façade.
• The "Orient Express" restaurant in the concourse, a reminder of the golden age.