Hello Hivers 👋🏼🥰
Well, that is my favourite subject again. I think I can talk and write about architecture for hours and hours. Last weekend I had a chance to visit an exceptional place in Istanbul.
This place is now open as the "Cinema Museum" at the heart of Beyoglu, Istanbul (Grand Rue de Pera) because it has been used as a public cinema for more than 50 years. However, the building itself was initially made as a winter mansion for an Armenian Banker who was also a close friend of the Sultan Abdulhameed II, Agop Koceyan who died in 1882. (Literally, he was the head of the Central Ottoman Bank and as you can imagine he was quite wealthy).
Right before his death, the building was "donated/gifted" to the Armenian Church. The building consists of a basement, 3 floors and a rooftop. It also has a backyard that used to be for horses led by a passage - Now called Atlas Passage.
That is the exterior today as the Cinema Museum but don't judge it by its cover... The interior and ceilings of the building were mind-blowing.
During the British Occupation around the 1920s, the building has served as a court and after that, it was used as a Post Office.
After an extensive renovation in the 1930s, the building started to enter "show business" as one of the important clubs in the area as displaying shows like Moulin Rouge, Tango Shows etc. After the 1940s, it has started to be used as a cinema -which explains now why it turned into a cinema museum.
Besides the entertainment history of the building, what attracts me more is the interior ceilings painted by a French Artist - Hippolyte Berteaux. The details of his work were exceptional and when you enter the building you feel like you are in a palace. Besides the cinema content of the museum, you can find the explanations and the history of the ceiling paintings in the building today.
If you ever visit Istanbul, surely there are more famous places to visit primarily like Haghia Sophia or Blue Mosque (well according to google) however I recommend that you should also visit secret gems like this which are full of history. Buildings like that carry many signs from non-muslim heritage who lived and worked there during the 19th and 20th Century. I may create a list of those "hidden gems" in Istanbul for those who are interested :)
(all ceiling photos are taken by me:))
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