The stairs link Bankalar Caddesi with Kart Çınar Sokak (the latter was known as Rue Camondo during the 19th and early 20th centuries).

[3] Abraham Salomon Camondo constructed the stairs to provide an easy connection between Kart Çınar Sokak, where he lived, and Bankalar Caddesi, where he worked.

The stairs were also frequently used by his children who studied at the nearby St. George's Austrian High School.

The stairs were famously photographed by Henri Cartier-Bresson in 1964,[4] and have featured in Barbara Nadel's crime novel Pretty Dead Things.

[5] According to Lonely Planet, "The curvaceous 19th-century Camondo Stairs, one of Beyoğlu's most distinctive pieces of urban design, run south from Kart Çınar Sokak.