{"id":176612,"date":"2025-12-05T13:37:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/176612\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T13:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:37:10","slug":"one-of-istanbuls-most-extraordinary-buildings-was-left-to-rot-for-decades-now-its-been-brought-back-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/176612\/","title":{"rendered":"One of Istanbul\u2019s most extraordinary buildings was left to rot for decades. Now it\u2019s been brought back to life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0 This CNN Travel series is, or was, sponsored by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos within the sponsorship, in compliance with our policy<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Istanbul
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n For years, the Botter Apartment was easy to miss. On \u0130stiklal Avenue \u2014 Istanbul\u2019s busiest pedestrian street, where a vintage red tram rattles past music shops, cafes, and boutiques \u2014 most people never looked up. Above the shopfronts, a graceful Art Nouveau fa\u00e7ade, once at the forefront of a city redefining itself, quietly decayed.\n <\/p>\n

\n The building was more than a decorative fa\u00e7ade. Commissioned by Sultan Abd\u00fclhamid II, designed by Italian architect Raimondo D\u2019Aronco, and built for the Sultan\u2019s Dutch tailor, Jean Botter, it was one of the structures that introduced Istanbul to modern European architecture and shaped the aesthetic of its wealthier streets.\n <\/p>\n

\n Over the next century, however, the apartment changed hands multiple times, was neglected, and slowly faded from view.\n <\/p>\n

\n Now the Botter Apartment \u2014 or Casa Botter \u2014 is back. A recent restoration has returned it not only to the street but to public life, reopening as a cultural center and shared workspace. It\u2019s a reminder to both locals and visitors that Istanbul still has treasures waiting to be discovered, high above the bustle of the crowds.\n <\/p>\n

\n Sultan Abd\u00fclhamid II, who oversaw some of the final days of the Ottoman empire from 1876 to 1909, was a man of contradictions. Politically, he is remembered for his authoritarian rule, but privately, he had a fascination with European art, music, and design. He was a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s Sherlock Holmes, enjoyed opera and ballet and employed foreign specialists in his court.\n <\/p>\n

A sultan, a tailor and an architect<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n Among these specialists was Jean Botter, the Sultan\u2019s official tailor. While Abd\u00fclhamid sourced his suits from Paris, Botter handled the precise fittings and alterations in Istanbul. In 1900, the Sultan gifted him a plot of land in Pera \u2014 Istanbul\u2019s most cosmopolitan and European-friendly district \u2014 to build a combined residence and fashion house.\n <\/p>\n

\n To realize it, Abd\u00fclhamid turned to his chief palace architect, the Italian Raimondo D\u2019Aronco. Completed in 1901, the Botter Apartment was Istanbul\u2019s first Art Nouveau building.\n <\/p>\n

\n It was distinctive for the bold elegance of its whiplash curves, delicate floral motifs, and sculpted Medusa-head details. The building was also technologically pioneering. It was the first steel-framed apartment building in Turkey and, after the Pera Palace Hotel, likely only the second in the country to include an elevator \u2014 a symbol of modernity rising above Istanbul\u2019s crowded streets.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe story of the Botter Apartment is an abridged history of Istanbul\u2019s modernization,\u201d says journalist Emrah Temizkan. \u201cIt was a representative space for a Western lifestyle, confined to the palace circle in its time. Its reopening to the public today, as a cultural center, holds a great parallel to the early Republican idea of democratizing culture and art.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n On the ground floor, Botter\u2019s atelier quickly became a hub of Pera\u2019s social life, hosting fashion shows and fittings for Istanbul\u2019s elite. The upper floors housed the Botter family. The building\u2019s connection to Botter and architect D\u2019Aronco added to its reputation, says Merve Gedik, architect and projects manager for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Heritage. \u201cIt was a structure born out of art and design.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

\n The building\u2019s glory, however, was short-lived. After the Balkan Wars and World War I, the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Pera dwindled. The Botter family sold the apartment in 1917 and moved to Paris. Over the decades, as Turkey emerged as a modern republic, the building was abandoned, its grand fa\u00e7ade deteriorating.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe building was in a very dilapidated state,\u201d Gedik recalls. \u201cThere was no glass in the windows, the roof was in a very bad condition, and water damage had rotted the wooden floors. It was on the verge of collapsing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Its fate changed in 2021, when the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality launched a careful restoration.\n <\/p>\n

\n The philosophy, Gedik says, was one of minimal intervention, preserving as much of the original texture and detail as possible. Layers of paint and plaster were removed to reveal the building\u2019s original colors. Metalwork was cleaned and conserved rather than replaced, letting the signs of its century-long weathering remain visible.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The most profound change, however, was the building\u2019s transition from private status symbol to public cultural beacon.\n <\/p>\n

\n When the lower floors reopened in April 2023 as the Casa Botter Art and Design Center, the building found itself in unexpected demand. Initially, the upper floors were earmarked for use as municipal offices, but visitors had other ideas.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cPeople showed so much interest during the opening week that we could not use it as an office,\u201d Gedik says. \u201cThe structure spontaneously started to gain a new function.\u201d Students, remote workers, and creatives began using the bright, open rooms as a communal workspace and shared office space.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is very satisfying, as it shows that when an area becomes public, it gains its own usage habits organically. We didn\u2019t force it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n Visitors to Casa Botter should not miss the elliptical elevator at the heart of the building \u2014 a visual reminder of its status as both an architectural and technological pioneer \u2014 its shaft, bounded by ornate ironwork, fits perfectly into the curve of the building\u2019s elegant main staircase.\n <\/p>\n

\n They should also appreciate that they\u2019re moving through a living narrative of Istanbul, from the Ottoman-era fascination with European style to modern Turkey\u2019s reclaiming of that legacy for its citizens.\n <\/p>\n

\n The building\u2019s restoration has also breathed new life into the Pera district. Reborn, it stands as a testament to a time when the Ottoman Empire began to establish a new identity, fusing tradition and modernity \u2014 a sense of style that still lingers in modern-day Istanbul. This era also set the stage for Turkey\u2019s First National Architectural Movement, led by figures such as Mimar Kemaleddin and Vedat Tek, as domestic architects responded to imported influences.\n <\/p>\n

\n And the Botter Apartment is only one entry point into this wider architectural story. Walking between the districts of T\u00fcnel and Taksim, visitors encounter an extraordinary mix of architecture that reflects Istanbul\u2019s late-Ottoman embrace of European design.\n <\/p>\n

\n There\u2019s the M\u0131s\u0131r Apartment, or Misir Apartman\u0131, which displays subtle Art Nouveau flourishes and stands as one of Istanbul\u2019s earliest reinforced-concrete buildings.\n <\/p>\n

\n Nearby, the Ravouna 1906 Suites offers another prime example of Art Nouveau, its designer and interior architect still immortalized in the carved stone of the fa\u00e7ade.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n The \u00c7i\u00e7ek Pasaj\u0131, or Flower Passage, has Neorenaissance details that recall its origins as a fancy apartment complex, while the Grand Pera and Azaryan Apartment boast Neoclassical and Neo-Baroque fa\u00e7ades built for the city\u2019s elite at the turn of the century.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Casa Botter Art and Design Center is open to the public on \u0130stiklal Caddesi.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0 This CNN Travel series is, or was, sponsored by the country it highlights. CNN retains full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-176612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}