The Istanbul Hilton
Conrad Hilton envisioned the Istanbul Hilton, under the auspices of the post WWII Marshall plan, as a contributor to the mission of world peace. One cannot fault the stated sentiment of its founder, but there is little in the design or grounds of this hotel to suggest the shades that must haunt its site, for it was here that the largest non-Muslim cemetery ever to exist in Istanbul, the Pengalti Armenian Cemetery, had rested since its establishment in 1560 pursuant to a petition to Sultan Suleyman. Echoing the Armenian genocide, which saw the deportation and massacre of a million ethnic Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during WWI, it was demolished in the 1930s to make way for projects like this. Though there is little in its design that distinguishes it from generic international hotels worldwide, Sedat Hakki Eldem, the Turkish advisor to the hotel’s American architects, designed the hotel entrance to resemble a flying carpet.
Conrad Hilton Interview (June 1955):
Istanbul Hilton website:
https://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/turkey/hilton-istanbul-bosphorus-ISTHITW/index.html