[3] Bebek has been a popular residential district since Ottoman times and its historic architecture sometimes recalls the lost cosmopolitanism of the past.

[4] When he was overthrown as khedive in 1914 Abbas Hilmi donated the mansion to the Egyptian government for use as an embassy (it was downgraded to a consulate in 1923 when Atatürk moved the Turkish capital to Ankara).

Designed in Art Nouveau style with sweeping mansard roofs probably by the Austrian architect, Antonio Lasciac, it was completely restored in 2010.

Down by the water, next to the Türkan Sabancı Park, the small Bebek Mosque, was designed in 1912 by the architect Kemaleddin Bey.

Inland from the water Bebek is home to the Lazarist Church of Sacre Coeur, all that remains of a large complex of buildings erected in 1908.