Baghdad Avenue

Bagdat Avenue (Turkish: 'Bagdat Caddesi', literally Baghdad Avenue) is a notable high street located in the Anatolian part of Istanbul,in Kadikoy. It can be seen as the counterpart of Istiklal Avenue on the European side in terms of importance and glamour. The avenue runs 6 km from Bostanci to Kiziltoprak, almost parallel to the coastline of the Sea of Marmara, within the district of Kadikoy.

It is a main street in an upper-scale residential area. The one-way avenue with old plane trees is flanked with shopping malls, department stores, fashion garment stores, elegant shops offering world famous brands, restaurants of international and local cuisine, pubs and cafés, luxury car dealers and bank agencies. Bagdat Avenue can also be considered as a large open-air shopping mall. Most of the retail stores are open on all days of the week, including Sunday afternoon.In summer time and on weekends, the sidewalks of the avenue are crowded with people window-shopping and youngsters lingering around. Traffic congestion is almost a standard situation on the three-lane Bagdat Avenue.

The neighbourhoods on the route westwards are: Bostanci, Catalcesme, Suadiye, Saskinbakkal, Erenkoy, Caddebostan, Goztepe, Ciftehavuzlar, Selamicesme, Feneryolu and Kiziltoprak.The area around Bagdat Avenue has a variety of transportation alternatives in addition to the bus and taxi options. There are seabus (high-speed catamaran ferry) terminals in Kadikoy and Bostanci, and a regional rail running just north of the avenue, which serves the district. Bostanci also has a quay for the traditional commuter ferries, which provide connection with the European part of Istanbul as well as the nearby Princes' Islands.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org