Traditions & everyday life
Çay bahçesi
The tea garden: tables under trees, a samovar and an afternoon that lasts.
The Turkish name
Çay bahçesi
Recording on its way.
The story
A çay bahçesi is an open-air tea garden, often on a hillside or by the water, where families and friends sit for hours over glasses of tea, sunflower seeds and a game of tavla. Waiters carry trays of tulip glasses between the tables.
Some bring a samovar to the table so the tea never runs out. The tea gardens of the Bosphorus, of Emirgan and Çamlıca in İstanbul, are famous for their views.
At a glance
- Order
- Bir çay, lütfen
- Famous ones
- Emirgan and Çamlıca, İstanbul