The Renovation of Pera

The Pera Palace was always an important landmark in the cultural map of Istanbul, and in terms of a lieux de memoire, it certainly has become more of one as the present day life of the hotel distances itself from the original opening of the museum. 

In October of 2010 an article came out in the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail detailing the re-opening of the hotel after a series of renovations that have turned the Pera Palace from it’s original and exclusive identity as a hotel into what it is now: a museum-hotel. The hotel was closed in 2006, and over the next four years the hotel was redone to include modern plumbing fixtures and luxuries until its reopening on September 1, 2010. 

Over £20 million were spent on the renovations, with work spanning from the front facade of the building to the antique furniture within.

1. Macaskill, Hilary. "Night at the 'Museum-Hotel': The Istanbul Gem Dripping With History and Elegance." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.