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Posted Sep 1, 2010
On September 1st, the Orient Express will be arriving to the old Constantinople as it does once every year and the Pera Palace will open its doors for the newcomers with a grand ball. In honour of ancient and glamorous times. The restorations are very promising, and amidst all of the “new ugliness” taking over Istanbul with Arabian money, it’s refreshing to see a glory of the past taking back its well-deserved place. In Agatha Christie’s old room, apparently already reserved by her grandson for a night, you can find all of her personal objects. The same goes for the room in which Atatürk used to reside in between the trenches. More like a museum-hotel, one might say, and a very prestigious one. Writers, kings, actors, all types of celebrities stayed at the Pera over 120 years. From Franz Joseph, Queen Elizabeth, Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, Sarah Bernhardt, Mata Hari, Jacqueline Kenney…. The glamorous list is endless, yet there is an intimate feel about the Palace: a movie where everything in history interconnects in small circles. Agatha Christie is the guest of honour, a devout visitor of Istanbul, a traveller of the Orient Express, and it is at Pera Palace that she ended her days. Lets hope this opening will be the gateway to a new vibrant century of plots, romances, mysteries, and much much literature.
Text by Acelya Yonac
TAGS: travel hotels istanbul pera palace agatha christie greta garbo alfred hitchcock queen elizabeth luxury online magazine locations orient express Acelya Yonac
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