If you want to read something about Istanbul, start with Midnight at the Pera Palace. The writer is Charles King, an American academician and a lover of Istanbul. It talks about the buzzing lifestyle, vibrant energy, kaleidoscopic cultural scene of the Pera district during the interwar period of the 20th century. With a parade of famous characters from Agathe Christie to Greta Garbo, Pera Palace is portrayed as the scene where all cultural transformations of Istanbul from an Imperial capital to a modern city take place with its glamour and tragedy.
Pera Palace after renovation
After you have read the book, don’t forget to pay a visit to Pera Palace which embodies its original glory due to a fabulous restoration that has preserved the original spirit but has renewed all the fabrics and has restored the furniture.
In order to feel the spirit of scenes depicted in the book, have a look at the ball room, visit the patisserie, have a drink at the bar, have an afternoon tea at the room with the domes, scan through books, look at original paintings, enjoy the colours and the fabrics and gaze at the oldest elevator in Turkey.
The first electric elevator in Turkey
Reading Midnight at the Pera Palace is a great opportunity to glimpse into the world of the interwar period of Pera full of royals, revolutionaries, spies and “all that jazz”.
