| Ayasofya Pansiyonlari (Konaklari) is situated in a picturesque lane of old lstanbul houses squeezed between the City's greatest imperial monuments - the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapı Palace - was taken over in its entirety by the Touring Club of Turkey and revived as a hotel complex in the 1980s. lt was a pioneering project that set the trend of historical revivals that has spread across Turkey since then.
Each of the gaily painted clapboard houses contains five to ten hotel rooms furnished in the gilded quasi- Victorian style favoured by the Ottoman elite of the last century.
The interiors are furnished in the 19th century Turkish style in which traditional taste and Western influence achieved a perfect balance. The armchairs with tasselled fringes, the velvet curtains, the brackets and mirrors, all offer the visitor a warm, friendly atmosphere
Each building has its own lobby at the first floor for hosting the visitors friends.
A four-storey mansion set in a spacious garden of its own forms a separate unit called Hotel Konukevi. (Its upper fioors offer a good view over the rooftops of the Palace). An underground cistern of early
Byzantine origin serves as one of three restaurants. Also within the complex is an important research library devoted to books and manuscripts on the histOry of Istanbul.
The street is paved in cobblestone and closed to motor traffic. Recent signatures in the guestbook include such celebrities as the film directors Bernardo Bertolucci and Roman Polanski.
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