Şahkulu, İlk Belediye Cd. No:35, Beyoğlu
The Bağdatlıyan Apartments
The twin buildings that make up the hotel were constructed between 1895 and 1905 on what was then Karanfil Street — today's İlk Belediye Avenue; in old records both buildings appear as the "Bağdatlıyan Apartment". They were commissioned by Ohannes Bağdatlıyan, an Istanbulite of Armenian origin who held senior posts in the Ottoman bureaucracy. Like other wealthy figures of his era he never lived here himself; the apartments were designed as modern rental homes of their day — original examples of the apartment tradition of Galata and Pera.
The avenue's present name is a story in itself: an iron bridge once stretched from the upper floor of the Sixth Municipal Office on Şişhane Square (1879-1883) to this street, connecting Pera to the municipal building at level — the name "İlk Belediye" (First Municipality) Avenue is thought to come from that link. The bridge is gone today; its name lives on in the street.
Today Meroddi Bağdatlıyan keeps these two historic buildings alive under their original name, together with the character of their quiet street.
