Galata or Galatae is a district in Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located north of the Golden Horn that separates it from the city center. The Golden Horn is crossed by several bridges, most notably the Galata Bridge. In the center of Galata is the Galata Tower. Galata was originally the home of the Galatasaray football club.
The name comes either from the Italian calata, which means stairway, or galaktos which means milk in Greek. In history, Galata is often called Pera which comes from the old Greek name for the place, Peran en Sykais, literally 'the Fig Field on the Other Side'. From 1273 to 1453, when it was captured by the Ottomans in the Siege of Constantinople, Pera was a Genoese colony.
