© 2012 Wazari Wazir | Children of Balat | Istanbul Turkey Balat is the traditional Jewish quarter in the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located on the European side of Istanbul, in the old city on the historic peninsula, on the western bank of the Golden Horn. (Another Istanbul neighborhood deeply associated with Jewish settlement is Kuzguncuk on the Asian shore.) Today Balat is a working-class district on the shores of the Golden Horn. Though it once had as many as nineteen synagogues, only two of importance remain, the famous Ahrida, and the neighboring Yanbol. The site of a Jewish school is close by, and Or Ahayim Jewish Hospital…