Tokatlıyan Hotels

The Tokatlıyan Hotels, founded by Meguerditch Tokatliyan,[1] were two prominent hotels located around Istanbul. The hotels were regarded as luxury hotels where many famed individuals such as Leon Trotsky and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stayed.[2][3][4] They are considered among the first European-style hotels to be built in Turkey.[5]

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

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
The Beyoğlu building of the Tokatlıyan Hotel in 2013

Meguerditch established the first Tokatlıyan Hotel in 1897 on the Rue de Pera (modern Istiklal Caddesi) in Pera, Beyoğlu. The hotel was first known as Hotel Splendide but the name soon changed to 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 one of the popular venues of the Istanbul high society for a long time. Many famed individuals such as Leon Trotsky, Josephine Baker, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were guests of the hotel.[3][10] Atatürk considered it his favorite hotel.[4]

During the First World War and the Armenian Genocide, the hotel was vandalized and its windows were broken.[11] It was eventually passed down to the Serbian businessman Nikola Medović in 1919. One of the most notable events in this period was on 4 November 1922, when Ali Kemal, the liberal newspaper editor and former Minister of the Interior was kidnapped from the barber shop at Tokatliyan Hotel, and was carried to the Asiatic side of the city and lynched by Republican forces.

Subsequently, the hotel came into the ownership of the Turkish businessman İbrahim Gültan, who changed the hotel's name to Konak.[3] By the 1950s, due to lack of maintenance, the hotel was run-down and in a deteriorating state, after which the Üç Horan (Holy Trinity) Armenian Church bought the property and attained ownership.[12]

Today, the building still stands at its original location next to the Çiçek Pasajı. Its lower floors are used as a hotel, while other rooms are now shops and banks.[9] Many of the upper floors, which replaced the structure's dome, are now off-limits.[9]

Tarabya Branch
Tokatlıyan Hotel in Tarabya

After the success of the first Tokatlıyan hotel, Meguerditch Tokatliyan opened another hotel at Tarabya in 1909.[13][14] The hotel consisted of 120 rooms and was situated on the banks of the Bosphorus.[7] The hotel became popular immediately.[7] However, on April 19, 1954, the hotel was heavily damaged due to fire.[7][13][15][16] In 1964 the hotel was reconstructed and its name changed to the Büyük Tarabya (Grand Tarabya) Hotel.[7] The hotel was used as a setting for numerous Turkish movies and TV shows such as Cici Gelin, Acele Koca Aranıyor, Arım Balım Peteğim, and more.[7]

Legacy

The Tokatlıyan Hotel is mentioned in many literary works such as Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book and Agatha Christie's Parker Pyne Investigates and Murder on the Orient Express. Also in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.[17][18][19]

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. Adamson, Judith (2009). Max Reinhardt : a life in publishing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780230545427.
  4. 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.
  7. "Yeşilçam'ın kapısını herkese açtığı otel". Posta (in Turkish). 8 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  8. "TOKATLIYAN OTELİ, MÜZE YAPILMALIYDI!" (in Turkish). Turizm Aktuel. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  9. 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. "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. 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.
  16. "Eski Tarabya Tokatlıyan Oteli (Tokatlian THERAPIA)-Konak Otel-Büyük Tarabya Oteli (Grand Tarabya Hotel)" (in Turkish). Degisti. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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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