The interior of Naum Theatre as depicted on the front cover of L'Illustration 19 April 1862 (Emre Aracı Collection)
"The Naum Theater was a place frequented by politicians, diplomats and the wealthy. Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz also did not miss major opera performances. Whenever Abdülmecid honored the performances, the whole Beyoğlu Street was covered with carpets so that the ruler's horse could trample on it in a glorious way. ] The Opera Naum burned down for the first time in 1853. It was repaired by Architect Smith soon after, and opened its doors again, and it was the scene of many brilliant shows until the great fire that destroyed Pera. there was no more."
Source: Said Naum Duhani, "Old People, Old Houses: Social Topography of Beyoğlu at the End of the 19th Century", Istanbul: Turkish Touring and Automobile Association, 1984, pp. 84-86
Emre Aracı’s book on the history of Naum Theatre, Naum Tiyatrosu - 19. Yüzyıl İstanbulu’nun İtalyan Operası, was published by Yapı Kredi Yayınları in June 2010. (Available on
ly in Turkish)
ly in Turkish)
Naum Tiyatrosu - 19.Yüzyıl
İstanbul'unun İtalyan Operası
Yapı Kredi Yayınları
Yayın yılı: 2010
Sayfa: 408
ISBN: 978-975-08-1801-1
İstanbul'unun İtalyan Operası
Yapı Kredi Yayınları
Yayın yılı: 2010
Sayfa: 408
ISBN: 978-975-08-1801-1
The Naum Theater in Beyoğlu, where Italian opera started to develop seriously in 19th century Istanbul, played a very important role in the cultural and artistic life of the city for about 30 years until it burned down in 1870. The stage, where Çiçek Pasajı is located today, was first built by the illusionist Bartolomeo Bosco, and then the administration passed to the Naum family from Aleppo, who owned the land, and in time it was named Naum Theatre. The building, which was rebuilt as a masonry in 1848, received the financial and moral support of Sultan Abdülmecid and became a kind of imperial theater by gaining the privilege of staging an opera in Istanbul. In this resource book, which Emre Araci has brought together by scanning many domestic and foreign sources and examining archive documents, for the first time in many different aspects from the construction of the Naum Theater to its destruction, from the artist profile to the audience mosaic, from the opera repertoire staged to the variety performances, from carnival balls to scandals. is covered extensively.
Watch Emre Aracı's documentary on the history of the Naum Theatre
