| Yalis
were rarely built for longevity. In Ottoman Turkey there
was no hereditary aristocracy that bequeathed property
from one generation to another, as was the custom in
Europe. A pasha's position depended on his relations with
the sultan: Should the pasha fall from grace or the
sultan fall from power, the family's fortunes fell as
well, and the yali often became impossible to maintain. Indeed,
temporality is intrinsic to timber buildings. Winter
rains and the moist sea air both encouraged rot. On an
unseasonably chilly July day in 1910, the romantic French
novelist Pierre Loti, staying at the yali of his friend
Count Ostrorog (above), noted that "a balmy dampness
fills my bedroom overlooking the sea, like an old ship
whose hull is no longer watertight."
Simple forms of heating, such as the common open
brazier, or mangal, caused several devastating
fires. Later, in the 1940's and 1950's, rising land
prices took a further toll. Thus only a handful of
18th-century yalis have survived, and a number more from
the 19th century. During the 1980's, some of these
received new leases on life as a new class of monied
Turkish entrepreneurs revived the prestige of a historic
Bosporus summer home.
Today, the remaining yalis are protected buildings,
divided into several categories according to their
architectural importance. One, the 18th-century
Bostancibasi Abdullah Aga Yali at Cengelkoy, has been
acquired by the Ministry of Tourism, and it is being
remodeled to accommodate a restaurant and a souvenir
shop.
The future of the best 18th-century yalis-many of them
illustrated here-now seems brighter than at any time this
century. Several have actually remained in the same
family for generations, and the current owners are
committed to their upkeep. The Curuksulu Yali at Salacak,
for instance, is maintained largely as it was originally
conceived by one of Turkey's leading industrialists.
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The Huber
Mansion and
Afif PashaYali
Built
by Koprulu Amcazade Huseyin Pasha, the fifth
member of the influential Koprulu family that
dominated Ottoman politics during the latter half
of the 17th century. The oldest surviving yali
bears all the characteristics of the most
traditional: a central fountain in the salon, a
cumba, or bay-window sitting area, above the
water, solid window covers and timber walls
painted terracotta red. Inside, despite its
disrepair, the elaborate ceiling, with, its Arab
and Persian influences, that so over whelmed H.G.
Dwight is a reminder of its celebrated past. The
built-in cupboards and carved niches that
distinguish Ottoman interiors are there, along
with, faded interior panels painted with roses,
lines and tulips, recalling the Ottoman Tulip
Period of the early 18th century, when leading
citizens competed to grow perfect blooms.
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The
Egyption Consulate
Chief
among the Ottoman art-nouveau designers was an
Italian, Raimondo d'Aronco, who served as
imperial architect to Sultan Abdul Hamid II
between 1896 and 1908. His work was influenced by
the Viennese secessionist movement and the
Italian stile floreale both branches of art
nouveau which, in Istanbul heat tempted to fuse
with Turkish forms.
The most distinctive art-nouveau yali today
stands in the suburb of Bebek and houses the
consulate of the Arab Republic of Egypt. This
yali was originally built for the last
Ottoman-appointed ruler of Egypt, Khedive Abbas
Hilmi II, who, following a family tradition,
escaped the Egyptian summers for the cooler
Bosporus.
Architecturally, the Bebek yali is an odd mix of
styles, so much so that it is here that the claim
of the yalis to an architectural character of
their own appears finally to dissipate. The heavy
mansard roof appears to have been imported from a
northern French chateau. Ornate art nouveau
railings run along the shore, cutting off the
house and garden from the sea.
After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey
in 1923, the Bosporus shores continued to be a
stylistic melting pot, but by that time, few
yalis or apartment buildings -bore more than
decorative signs of connection to the yalis of
the Ottoman empire.
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