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Galata Antique Hotel Istanbul was built in 1881 by the famous French arcthitect Alexandre Vallaury.
It is one of the oldest stone buildings of Taksim & Pera area and firstly build as a mansion.
These are some of the buildings built by Vallaury: Pera Palace Hotel, Cemil Topuzlu Pasha Pavillion,
The Central Bank building in Karakoy, Istanbul Erkek Lisesi (Boys High School), Istanbul Archeology
Museum, Haydarpasa Hospital.
The mansions of the most prominent families were on the Tepebasi and Pera streets, and the architecture
of these buildings were on of the important part in developing the characteristics of the Taksim, Pera
and Galata region in Istanbul.
Mr. Hipolit Degucis, a French businessman - an interesting and well known character in Pera, was the
owner of this stone built mansion. In his large shop in Pera (Istikal) Street 473 he was selling valuable
antiques, porcelains and crystals. He was supposed to be a master in his business and was well known about
his business ethics and honesty.
After the death of his wife, he spent his life in the mansion and shut down all the covers of the
windows of the mansion as an expression of his mourning. Mr. Degucis died in 1942 and his grave is
in Feriköy Catholic Cemetery.
After Degucis death, his son Henri Hipolit has runned the shop in a very successful way.
However, after the loothering incidence of September 6 -7 events the shop was heavily
damaged and it did not open again.
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