Yeşil Ev Hotel

In the previous fifty or sixty years the area had declined to such an extent that when it became neccessary to built a prison. The main factor in the choice of the location was that the site between that particular corner and Topkapı Palace was where the lawcourts were situated.

In Şükrü Bey’s mansion the necessary precautions were immediately taken against their vulgar, disagreeable neighbour. A wall was built across the spacious garden at the back, thus protecting the house from the inauspicious sight of the nearby prison-house.

Life went on as usual in the mansion since this event, in 1910s, until the 1970s. With the death of the General Director the mansion lost its main source of revenue and the great house gradually fell into a state of neglect and dilapidation.

In 1977 this mansion was up for sale and was taken under control by the Turkish Touring and Automobile Association. The old wooden building was so far beyond repair that, with the consent of the Commission for Ancient Monuments, it was demolished and rebuilt. The nineteen rooms and layout were carefully preserved and the exterior remade as an exact replica.

The furnishings have been created in the style of a 19th century winter mansion. The building has an absolutely unrivaled location between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and at the same time offers visitors the warm, friendly atmosphere of an old Istanbul home.

After the opening of this unique building in March 1984 as the Yesil Ev, it very quickly attained a world-wide reputation and was awarded in 1985 the medal for the year by “Europa Nostra”. Yesil Ev had, indeed, introduced the concept of true comfort and hygiene to this “derelict” district and opened a new epoch in Turkish tourism by combining modern standards with historical style.