[3] For almost five centuries, the Greek communities throughout Istanbul (former Constantinople) celebrated pre-Lent festivals with colourful events that included bawdy parades and parties held indoors and in the street.

Residents of Bakırköy, Samatya, Fener and Balat crossed the Golden Horn via the Galata and Unkapanı bridges, and, joining the revellers from Pera, gathered to danced in the large square outside Saint Demetrius Church in Kurtuluş, a neighbourhood in Şişli district at that time known as Tatavla and nicknamed Little Athens.

[6] Meanwhile people from neighbourhoods along the Bosphorus, and from Şişli and Kemerburgaz gathered in front of the Pangaltı Catholic Cemetery and marched through the main street to the same square, where the celebrations culminated.

[7] Young Greek men often wore the traditional fustanella costume, put on fake beards or moustaches, and painted their faces with flour or coal powder.

She wrote that: "Groups of young girls sang songs and children swung on gondolier swings or rode merry-go-rounds decorated with bands and flags.

[10] In 2010, nearly 70 years after the last celebration, the historical carnival was revived by a group of Greeks and Turks who sang, danced and paraded in costumes through the streets of Şişli .