The road passes right over residential apartments: the strange building in Istanbul that went viral
Eight occupied apartments are located under a 50-meter stretch of road in Turkey. Residents claim they have lived there for years without issues, but disagree on whether cars are driving over their homes or on a sidewalk.
Photos of vehicles and pedestrians passing directly over a residential building in Istanbul have gone viral on social media. It is a two-story structure with eight apartments, located below the level of Plajyolu Street in the northeast of the city.
According to the Turkish news site "En Son Haber", the section where the road passes over the building stretches for about 50 meters. Local media reported that passersby stop at the spot and sometimes turn back to take another look at the unusual sight.
Aerial footage published in "Milliyet", one of Turkey's largest newspapers, shows traffic passing over the structure while the apartments are located beneath it. According to the residents, the noise and vibrations from the vehicles are not significantly felt inside the apartments, and they have lived there for years without any unusual incidents.
However, the question of what exactly is above the building is not as simple as it seems. One resident claimed that it is a real road, and said that the building is stable even when heavy vehicles pass over it. According to him, he has lived there for 30 years and bought the apartment while aware of the situation.
Another resident, however, claimed that the apartments are actually located under a sidewalk and not under a road. Another resident, Zuliye Temiz, said she bought the apartment in 2005 and moved in in 2008. According to her, after her husband carried out repair work, no particular problems were recorded. She also noted that the building existed even before the construction of the road leading to the beach, and the area above the apartments is currently used by the public.
Normal lifestyle
A resident named Mustafa Cekici told the "En Son Haber" site that there are eight apartments in the building and that the road passes over all of them.
"If here it costs 5 liras, here it costs one lira. That's what we could afford, so that's what we bought," he said.
According to him, he has lived in the building for three decades, and heard that the structure was built back in 1956.
According to the tenants, the fact that vehicles pass over them does not make daily life unbearable. One of them said that he does not hear any special noise when cars pass over the structure. Another resident noted that she does hear the vehicles, but the apartment ceiling insulates her sufficiently.
Local professionals were also surprised by the sight. Real estate agent Huseyin Gulbtekin, who examined the structure and documented it, said: "I have seen very interesting buildings, but this is the first time I have encountered something like this." The video he published contributed to the spread of the images online and made the building one of the most talked-about local phenomena, while the photos of the road passing over occupied apartments continue to arouse great curiosity.
