Misir or Egypt Apartment Taksim

This rather cheerful looking block of apartments whose top floor houses the very upmarket 360 restaurant, was built in 1910 and designed by the Armenian architect Hovsep Aznavuryan (1854-1935).

It was constructed in a style reminiscent  of Art Nouveau, although it is entirely original, and was intended to be the winter home of the Egyptian Khedive Abbas Halim Pasa. When he died his relatives changed it into apartments for themselves and it eventually developed into a block that also had galleries, a theatre, and at one time was home to the poet Mehmed Akif Ersoy (1873-1936) who wrote the lyrics for the Turkish national anthem.

The actress Virginia Bruce (1910-1982) star of the early Hollywood movie “The Great Ziegfeld” who married the owner of the building, Ali Ipar, also lived there and the many tailors working there would attract lots of wealthy clientele.

Today the restored building has a small theatre and several cafés.