A’jia Hotel awarded
by the 2009 Condé Nast Johansens Award for Excellence as “Most
Excellent Charming Hotel” in Europe.
A distinguished boutique Hotel, a’jia is a traditional Ottoman mansion
that jewels the Asian shores of the Bosphorus. With a well appointed
contemporary interior design, and its centuries old architecture the
venue oozes trend and excitement. When you add the extraordinary
attention to detail, individualized service and HIP aspect in the mix,
hotel experience is simply redefined.
History
HISTORY
OF A’JIA
HOTEL (AHMET RASİM PAŞA YALISI )
The
word “yalı” in Turkish comes from Greek yiáli,(
literally "seashore, beach") is a house or mansion
constructed at immediate waterside (almost exclusively seaside) in
Istanbul and usually built with an architectural concept that takes
into account the characteristics of the coastal location.
Ahmet
Rasim Paşa Yalısı was built at the end of the 19th century.
Although the architect of the building is not known, the ampiric
style and the era it belongs to leads to the allegation that it must
be the work of Balyan family.
The
yalı is named after Ahmet Rasim Paşa (1826-1897). Having lived
during the regency of Sultan Abdulaziz and Sulatn Abdulhamid, Ahmet
Rasim Paşa served various governships such as
Yanya,Tuna,Trabzon,Aydın until he was appointed as Istanbul
Sehremini’s mayor, police chief in 1878. Later, he was sent to the
governship of Tripoli where he served for 13 years until his death in
1897.
After
it was burnt down, the yalı was rebuilt in 1898 to be sold to the
Istanbul Municipality by Ahmet Rasim’s family. Following the
Turkish War of Independence, it functioned as the 36th elementary
school of the new Turkish Republic until 1970. In 2002 the
restorations began to turn the building into a hotel. Since year
2005, A’jia Hotel has been hosting guests from all around the
world in this historical mansion with its contemporary interior
design.