The term had designated from the 8th century one of the quarters of Constantinople, likewise called by the Turks, whom the Latins preferred to call “Pera.” Instead, the European Latins gave the name of G. from the 18th century to the ancient Genoese city within the walls of the city.
Around the year 200 the first Christian community is noted in G., which by about 431 constitutes a small city. Its history, however, begins with Genoese colonization, sporadic under the Communes and then stable under the Paleologi. Michael VIII in 1267 granted privileges to the Genoese, who made of G. one of the principal emporia of the East. G. enjoyed many privileges in the Empire. It had its own administration under a podestà directly appointed by Genoa. The colonists erected numerous public buildings, convents (first of the Benedictines, Dominicans, and Franciscans and later of the Jesuits, Conventuals, Capuchins, Salesians, and Lazarists), churches (21 have been counted), and hospitals. In their conquest (1453) the Turks confirmed the privileges of G., which they later suppressed, leaving only to the new body called the Magnifica Comunità the management of religious goods. Despite Eastern infiltrations, G. still retained a distinctly Italian aspect well into the 18th century.
From the 19th century G. took on the appearance it has today of a cosmopolitan city with a clear preponderance of the European element. The abolition of the “capitulations” (1914) removed every trace of the ancient privileges and subjected the population to Turkish legislation. Religious institutions and parishes for Italians still function.