It was the first architectural offices, the first building of the Ottoman Bank, the first premises of jeans production and the first house of mustard production. Saint Pierre Han, one of Istanbul’s important buildings that has witnessed many firsts in the civic history of the city, opens its doors this time as a conservatory.
BUILT AS HOUSINGLet’s take a brief look at the history of the building based on the information shared by Seda Özen Bilgili, the architect who worked in the Saint Pierre Han BAU Conservatory project: “Saint Pierre Han, located on the Eski Banka Street, one of the parallel streets of the Bankalar Street in Istanbul today, was built in 1732 as a French Trade Offices and lodging quarters of officials. Considered the father of the French romantic poetry, André Chénier was born in 1762 in this first building. In 1770, after a destructive fire, the building was converted a brickwork inn.”
Seda Özen Bilgili, also reminds us that the architect Gaspare Fossati, who came to Istanbul to build the Russian Embassy between the years 1838 – 1945, before starting the restoration of Hagia Sophia (1847-49), had built the Saint Pierre church in 1841, to which Saint Pierre Han was affiliated.
Transformed into a conservatory by Bahçeşehir University, we will see Saint Pierre Han as one of Istanbul’s active cultural venues in the near future.
TR
