Welcome back to AL-MONITOR Istanbul.

September is the year's cultural peak, when art lovers in the three big cities have a new opening virtually every day. Galleries reopen, orchestras tune up and for one weekend embassies, consulates and private houses in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir let the public walk in. One event stands apart from all of it: a concert by Karsu in Hatay, the city the earthquake devastated, and all the more meaningful for being held far from where everything else is crowding in.

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Nazlan (@NazlanEr on X)

P.S. Have tips on Istanbul’s culture scene? Send them my way at nertan@al-monitor.com.

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1. Leading the week: Open house

The 2026 campaign image: a restoration under way at Ter Elst, Flanders. (Photo courtesy of LUCID/European Heritage Days)

For two days this month, gates that normally stay closed will be left open. The European Heritage Days return for their 43rd edition across 48 countries on Sept. 19-20, marking the fifth edition in Turkey, with events running in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir.

The theme is “Heritage at Risk: Revive, Resist, Reimagine,” which is sharper than the usual heritage-week piety. The Council of Europe names the risks plainly: climate change accelerating the erosion of stone, wood and clay; conflict and forced migration cutting communities off from cultural sites; development swallowing historic quarters; and regional and minority languages going quiet. To learn more, join the panel titled “Cultural Heritage at Risk” at the Goethe-Institut in Ankara, which focuses on preparing for disasters before, during and after they occur.

In Istanbul, the pleasure is partly architectural, partly diplomatic curiosity. Last year's list included  Austria's Yenikoy Palace, the Belgian Palace and Saint-Joseph.

Izmir, too, is on the map again, with walks through the Levantine quarter, one of which passes the house that belonged to Edouard Balladur, the former French prime minister who was born in the city in........

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