This thesis attempts to study the architectural and the social changes brought by the multi-story apartment buildings which emerged in the nineteenth century istanbul, in especially Galata-Pera region. A brief introduction to the modernization attempts of the Ottoman Empire, and also to the traditional dwellings and daily life of the Ottoman households before the nineteenth century constitute the first sections of the study. The architectural and the urban developments such as the new building regulations, architectural styles and building types as well as the social and cultural changes that brought new cultural habits and life styles in the modernization period, are also studied in this context. A group of apartments with different plans, size and locations are chosen as a sample so as to point out and discuss the layout of the constituent spaces like the halls, foyers, corridors, substantial rooms and wet spaces. Respectively the changing meaning of the &lsquo / house&rsquo / and daily life are also pointed out. In relation to these, facade organizations, plans, functional and spatial features and the privacy of spaces in the sample apartment buildings and their flats, and the daily life and the privacy of the apartment residents are studied and discussed in comparison to the traditional Ottoman house and the contemporary Parisian apartments to present a comparative perspective. Consequently, &lsquo / similarities&rsquo / , &lsquo / differences&rsquo / , and &lsquo / innovations&rsquo / concerning the nineteenth century istanbul apartments are discussed and listed at the end of the thesis. Several tables which are designed to contribute to the arguments presented in the study are also added to the thesis.

The present study aims to reveal the credit practice in Galata region in seventeenth century, through dealing with the credit relations between religious groups and the position of women in economic relations as the main themes. Galata was one of the most important international trade ports in seventeenth century for not only the Otoman Empire but also the Mediterranean region. While it was expected that the credit organization in Galata should be different than the ones of priorly studied cities of Anatoli, Kayseri and Bursa, as a result of the combination of multinational structure of the region and its important trade port characteristics, it is seen that Galata was similar to the other cities with regard to the credit organization. Paralel to the results of other studies, it is observed that money exchange between religious groups was intensive and both Muslim and non-Muslim women were actively involved in economic life, by analyzing court records that belonged to the seventeenth century. The existance of credit relations without heed to religious or gender differences proved the existance of trust feeling between the groups. Like the previous studies about the practice of credit and credit organization in other Ottoman cities, this thesis attempts to help to understand the socio- economic structure of the Otoman society.