Approval of the New Building
The site, conceived for twin buildings functionning with
the Turkish Tobacco Monopoly, was bought in 1889 by the last-mentioned
company. Two months later, the General Directorate of the
Imperial Ottoman Bank, obtaining its share in the site, decided
the construction of a new building, intended for its own use,
and which would serve as head office. The General Manager
of the Bank, Sir Edgar Vincent, writing on 7th February 1890
a letter to Thédore Berger, member of Paris Committee, suggested
him to buy the half of the site for the construction of a
new branch. On 13th February 1890, the approval of the Paris
and London Committees was received.
Traces of East and West within "the Imperial Ottoman
Bank"
The building, constructed by the Architect Alexandre Vallauri,
was composed, in the basement by vaults, stock rooms and stables;
In the level under the ground floor, by the Mecidiye safe-room,
so called because of coins of 20 piasters worth, which they
contain at that time and by dining-hall; on the ground floor
by the space reserved to the branch; on the first floor, apart
from the private and professional offices of the General Manager,
by the offices of his secretary and that of the translators;
on the second floor, by the accounting department with the
offices of the chief accountant, the state commissioner and
the inspectors; in the attic, by the victuals department,
archives and housekeepers' rooms.
The most interesting characteristic of the building is the difference
of architectural style remarkable in its back and front façades. The
neo-classical and neo-renaissance features of the front façade, looking
out onto the Banks Street, reflect the glory and the dignity of European
banks at the time. The back façade, looking out onto the old Istanbul
beyond the Golden Horn, is notable for its nearly orientalist characteristics.
This difference among the two façades seems to symbolize in fact the
status of the Bank between East and West. A similitude is remarkable
in the inscriptions located face to face at the entrance of the Bank.
The one in Latin emphasizes the importance of the friendship while the
other in Arabic exalts the fortune.
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Fortune's hand shall be unable to touch
what
is offered to friends: It is the riches that
you have distributed that shall stay with you forever.
Martial, Epigrammes, V, 42. |
He who earns money is God’s beloved
servant. |
The "Imperial Ottoman Bank" Survives
The building, leaving behind a past of hundred years, has
been housing the Ottoman Bank Archives and Research Centre
since 2000. This enterprise, which seems to take a step for
the creation of a new identity at the Beyoglu and Galata quarters
and the constitution of a centre, where culture and history
coexist. The building also houses the Ottoman Bank Museum.
Sources
Edhem Eldem; A 135-Year-Old Treasure. Glimpses from the past
in the Ottoman Bank Archives, Istanbul, 1998.
Nese Yildiran;
"Dis Borçlanmada 33 Yillik Birliktelik ve Dogu-Bati Ekseninde
Bir Ikiz Bina: Tütün Rejisi ve Bank-i Osmani-i Sahane"
derl. Zeynep Rona, Osman Hamdi Bey ve Dönemi, Istanbul, Tarih
Vakfi Yurt Yayinlari, 1993
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