|  From the harbour at Galata, a steep rise flattened into an avenue leading to Pera. Known as the Grand’ Rue, it ran along the spine of the hill, commanding magnificent views of both the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. At its most elevated point, near Galatasaray, it was called the Heights of Pera. Tucked into the folds of the pine-clad hills running east to the Bosphorus, modest wood and plaster villas clung to the steep slopes. By 1517 the Venetian bailo was renting such a villa. The French acquiredthe estate next door, enjoying the same idyllic view, overlooking the Seraglio to the islands in the Sea of Marmara beyond. The English soon followed, taking a ‘faire house within a large field and pleasant gardens compassed with a wall’ near the Venetians and the French. They would stay there until 1801, when the Sultan gave them a piece of land on the Heights of Pera in thanks for the part they played in the expulsion of the French from Egypt. The Dutch established themselves on Tophane Hill, near the Palace of Galatasaray, probably on the same site they occupy to this day. Rivalries among the foreigners was intense. The Catholic Latins generally considered the northern Protestants of no consequence. The Frenchman became apoplectic at the thought that the Englishman might be given precedence, and the Venetians threatened war when a Dutchman entered a door before him.
The finest 18th-century embassy was that of the Swedes, which stood on the Grand’ Rue, and was completed, some say, with monies sent to Istanbul by the Protestant faithful for the buying and freeing of slaves. The Russians also acquired a piece of land on the Grand Rue. It is said that a shipload of sacred Russian earth was brought in at the command of Catherin the Great so that her embassy ‘should stand on Russian soil’.
The palace of the Venetian bailos, now the Italian ambassador’s residence, was transformed in the 1750s from a wooden structure into the fine brick and stone palace we know today.
From Palaces of Diplomacy, by Patricia Daunt. Cornucopia Issue 5 |
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During the 31st Annual Condé Nast Johansens Awards for Excellence in November, argos in Cappadocia was named as best in “Sustainable Hospitality & Corporate Social Responsibility,” highlighting the hotel’s commitment to environmentally friendly initiatives, its efforts to purchase from local vendors, use of natural building materials, and use of fruits, vegetables and greens grown in the on-site herb gardens.
The Turkish hamam is a deeply aesthetic way of keeping clean. Historically it was at the center of Turkish culture and at the Sumahan they have captured the spirit and architecture of this ritual. It depends as much on the quality of light seeping through the domed ceiling, the echo of running water, the application of warmth and cool, the smooth feel of marble, as it does on soap. Sumahan’s own private hamam polishes the ritual to a level of refinement hard to find elsewhere. 
