In the late 19th century, long-distance rail travel could be a difficult and uncomfortable undertaking, with unpleasant seating in dirty passenger cars. It was against this backdrop that Belgian businessman Georges Nagelmackers launched his luxury sleeper-car train service, the Orient Express. Beginning in 1883, the line took passengers from Paris to Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey), and provided a level of comfort and amenities seldom seen in rail service of the day.
Because of its reputation for opulence and grandeur — many passengers compared it to Europe’s finest hotels — the Orient Express was a natural choice for high-level bureaucrats, writers and people of great wealth. What was not available, however, was a hotel in Istanbul that offered comparable plush accommodations for the travelers who had made the roughly 80-h journey. Nagelmackers’ firm, the Wagons-Lits Co., saw this as an opportunity and, in 1892, began construction of the Pera Palace Hotel, the first European-style luxury hotel in the Ottoman Empire. The building features a design by prominent Ottoman architect Alexander Vallaury, who was born in Istanbul but received his formal education in Paris. His vision for the building incorporated Neoclassical, Art Nouveau and Eastern styles.
When it opened in 1895, the Pera Palace Hotel offered the Express travelers the height of luxury. Aside from the Ottoman palaces, it was the only building with electrical power in Istanbul. It was the only hotel in the city to provide hot running water for its guests and was home to the first electric elevator in the city. Because of its long list of famous guests, the hotel is regarded as a museum-hotel and honors notable historical figures. Among them are Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (founder of the Republic of Turkey), İsmet İnönü (second president of Turkey), authors Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene (both of whom set novels at the hotel), British monarch King Edward VIII, renowned film director Alfred Hitchcock and celebrity actress Zsa Zsa Gabor. British mystery writer Agatha Christie reportedly wrote her 1934 novel “Murder on the Orient Express” while staying at room 411 of the Pera Palace Hotel, and her room has been preserved as a memorial to the prolific author. Many of Atatürk’s personal belongings are preserved in Room 101, which was converted into a museum room in 1981 to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Turkey’s First Electric Elevator
The Pera Palace Hotel was home to the first electric elevator in Turkey and only the second one in Europe. Though there is some dispute over who installed the hotel’s elevator, Otis has a handwritten order note for ”Hotel Constantinople,” which most certainly referred to the Pera Palace Hotel, as it was the only hotel with an electric elevator under construction at the time. The note shows the elevator cost US$1,500 (about US$38,000 in today’s dollars). It is a cage-style elevator still in use today, some 125 years after it was installed. It was built for a five-person, or 400-kg, capacity.
Parachute Braking Mechanism is Still Working
Carrier rails of this unique elevator in the historic building are made of circular transmission steel. Parachute brakes are suitable for this rail form and are in working order. There are two decorative cast iron columns on both sides of the lift shaft. Counterweights operate in these two columns. Approximately 125 years after its installation, the elevator, which is still used today, is considered to have four ropes when viewed from the outside and two ropes when viewed from the lower machine room, but it in fact has a single rope. One end of the rope starts with the weight placed in one of the columns and, after touring the pulley room in the shaft, machine room in the pit and the cabin, it ends with the weight within the other column.
Three Modernizations
The elevator, which has been modernized three times since its installation, preserves, to a great extent, its originallity. While the motor, control system, landing and cabin call panels have been changed during modernizations, the main components of the elevator, like its cabin, rails and door, still preserve their originality since the first day of operation. This legendary and historic elevator, which still preserves the magnificence of its first day, was in 2010 modernized by Otis and still carries passengers, defying the years.
A Secure and Comfortable Elevator Experience, Thanks to Modernization
Otis Turkey, which for three times has modernized Pera Palace Hotel’s elevator, carries out various innovative technological developments for its modernization operations. In this context, Otis Turkey CEO and Western Balkans Leader Özgür Aren said, “Modernization of all units, from high-speed elevators in skyscrapers to elevators in apartments with a few floors, is carried out by our teams who are experts and act with the same experience, equipment and safety measures. Through our modernization activities, where we use the right technique, equipment and technologies, we both decrease the energy costs of the elevators and make them more comfortable and secure.”
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