Interior of a Turkish caffinet - Thomas Allom

This café is typical of the ornate rococo style in which many Turkish cafés were built in the 19th century. The construction was wooden, the interiors carved and painted, and often equipped with small decorative fountains to cool the air in summer. Customers could drink coffee while listening to music, have a shave, smoke a pipe, listen to storytellers, meet friends or simply relax. As these structures were made of wood, they were particularly vulnerable to the terrible fires that frequently broke out in Istanbul. None of these cafés has survived to the present day.