Tokatlıyan Hotels
Tokatlıyan Hotel on Rue de Pera (Istiklal Caddesi) in Beyoğlu
General information
LocationIstanbul, Turkey
Opening1897

The Tokatlıyan Hotels, founded by Meguerditch Tokatliyan,[1] were two prominent luxury hotels located in Istanbul. Many famous individuals such as Leon Trotsky and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stayed in one or other of them.[2][3][4] They were among the first European-style hotels to be built in Turkey.[5]

History

The Tokatlıyan Hotels were founded by Meguerditch Tokatliyan, an Ottoman citizen of Armenian descent, who moved from Tokat to Istanbul in 1883 and adopted the last name Tokatlıyan meaning 'from Tokat'.[4][6] Meguerditch Tokatliyan eventually settled in Nice, France, where he lived the rest of his life.[7]

Beyoğlu branch

Facade of Tokatlıyan Hotel on İstiklal Caddesi in Beyoğlu in 2021 after restoration.

Meguerditch established the first Tokatlıyan Hotel in 1897 on the Rue de Pera (modern Istiklal Caddesi) in Pera, Beyoğlu. Originally known as Hotel Splendide, the hotel was soon renamed Hotel Tokatlıyan.[8] It originally had 160 rooms and its furnishings were brought from Europe.[9] The hotel contained high-ceiling halls and rooms and it also had its own coat of arms made with silver which was placed all around the hotel.[8] The hotel was a popular venue for members of Istanbul high society for a long time. Many famous individuals such as Leon Trotsky, Josephine Baker, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were guests of the hotel.[3][10] Atatürk considered it his favourite hotel.[4]

During the First World War and the Armenian genocide, the hotel was vandalised and its windows were broken.[11] In 1919 it was passed over to the Serbian businessman Nikola Medović On 4 November 1922, Ali Kemal, the liberal newspaper editor and former Minister of the Interior, was kidnapped from the barber shop at the hotel. He was taken to the Asiatic side of the city and lynched by Republican forces.

Subsequently, the hotel passed into the ownership of the Turkish businessman İbrahim Gültan, who changed its name to Konak.[3] By the 1950s, lack of maintenance had left the hotel run-down and in a deteriorating state. The Üç Horan (Holy Trinity) Armenian Church then bought the property.[12]

Today, the building still stands in its original location near the Çiçek Pasajı. Shops occupy much of the ground floor while most of the upper floors are off-limits.[9] In 2022 its facade was restored.

Tarabya Branch

Tokatlıyan Hotel in Tarabya

After the success of the first Tokatlıyan hotel, Meguerditch Tokatliyan opened another branch at Tarabya in 1909 on a site long occupied by a hotel, first by the Hotel Petala and then the Hotel d'Angleterre (Tarabya was a popular retreat from the heat of central İstanbul in summer with wealthy Turks and foreigners).[13][14][15] It consisted of 120 rooms on the European shore of the Bosphorus.[7] Like its predecessors on the site, the hotel became popular immediately.[7] However, on April 19, 1954, it was badly damaged by fire.[7][13][16][17] In 1964 the hotel was reconstructed and its name changed to the Büyük Tarabya (Grand Tarabya) Hotel.[7]

The Tokatliyan hotels in culture

The Tokatlıyan Hotel is mentioned in Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book, and in Agatha Christie's Parker Pyne Investigates and Murder on the Orient Express. It also appears in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.[18][19][20]

The Tarabya branch has been used as a setting for numerous Turkish movies and TV shows such as Cici Gelin (The Good Bride), Acele Koca Aranıyor (Urgently Seeking a Husband), Arım Balım Peteğim, (My Bee, My Honey, My Honeycomb) and more.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Enstitüsü, Istanbul Araştırmaları (2015-08-14). "Western Decorum and Istanbul Hotels". IAE Blog. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  2. ↑ VanHeijenoort, Jean (1978). With Trotsky in exile : from Prinkipo to Coyoacán : Jean van Heijenoort. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U.P. ISBN 9780674802551.
  3. 1 2 3 Adamson, Judith (2009). Max Reinhardt : a life in publishing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230545427.
  4. 1 2 3 Ziflioglu, Vercihan (9 November 2011). "Atatürk's favorite hotel still doomed". Hurriyet. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "TOKATLIYAN OTELİ ŞİMDİ OTELCİLİK MÜZESİ" (in Turkish). Turizm Sesi. Retrieved 4 January 2013. Translated from Turkish: Along with the Pera Palace, Tokatliyan is one of the first hotels in Turkey
  6. ↑ Ragazzi, Mario Levi ; trad. di Giampiero Bellingeri e Paola (2007). Istanbul era una favola (in Italian). Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai. p. 65. ISBN 9788884909527.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Yeşilçam'ın kapısını herkese açtığı otel". Posta (in Turkish). 8 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  8. 1 2 "TOKATLIYAN OTELİ, MÜZE YAPILMALIYDI!" (in Turkish). Turizm Aktuel. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  9. 1 2 Ziflioglu, Vercihan (2010-12-27). "Landmark Istanbul hotel threatened by stall on restoration". Hurriyet. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  10. ↑ "I am a Turk, I am honest, I am cultured and I have a tour!". Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  11. ↑ Derogy, Jacques (1990). Resistance and revenge: the Armenian assassination of the Turkish leaders responsible for the 1915 massacres and deportations. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781412833165.
  12. ↑ Kaylan, Muammer. The Kemalists: Islamic Revival and the Fate of Secular Turkey. Prometheus Books. p. 103. ISBN 9781615928972.
  13. 1 2 "Bogazicinin Tarabyasi" (in Turkish). Tarabya Tarihi (Tarabya History). Archived from the original on 4 March 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  14. ↑ Çıkla, Selçuk (2004). Roman ve gerçeklik bağlamında : kültür değişmeleri ve Servet-i fünûn romanı (1. baskı. ed.). Ankara: Akçağ. ISBN 9789753385145.
  15. ↑ Aracı, Emre (2014). Elgar in Turkey: The Composer's Visit to Istanbul and Izmir (1st ed.). Istanbul: Pera Museum. p. 71. ISBN 9786054642267.
  16. ↑ Sasanlar, Binnaz Tugba. "A Historical Panorama of an Istanbul Neighborhood: Cihancir from the Late Nineteenth Century to the 2000s" (PDF). Bogaziçi University. p. 94. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  17. ↑ "Eski Tarabya Tokatlıyan Oteli (Tokatlian THERAPIA)-Konak Otel-Büyük Tarabya Oteli (Grand Tarabya Hotel)" (in Turkish). Degisti. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  18. ↑ Freely, Orhan Pamuk ; translated by Maureen (2006). The black book. New York: Vintage International. p. 161. ISBN 9781400078653. He was just passing the building that had once housed the Tokatliyan Hotel when he bumped into Iskender.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ Christie, Agatha (2003). Murder on the Orient Express. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061753824. Retrieved 23 January 2013. Chapter two, "The Tokatlian Hotel". At the Tokatlian, Hercule Poirot asked for a room with bath.
  20. ↑ Christie, Agatha (1934). Mr. Parker Pyne, detective. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. ISBN 9780062006714. 'Mrs Jeffries,' he said, 'will you come to see me at the Hotel Tokatlian in half an hour?

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