Journey to the Center of the East 1850-1950

The movement of “Traveling to the East” was part of the “Eastern Question.” Encompassing continental Europe in the 18th century, the idea opening up to the “Levant” from the “Grand Tour” was transformed throughout the 19th century. Initially traveling on behalf of academic institutions, missionaries and all kinds of amateur researchers that have left their studies behind, set foot on Eastern lands in order to discover the world of Antiquity, collect information on social life, and follow in the footsteps of ancient myths. 

Penning the classics of travel literature, these travelers were followed by tourist groups after the Crimean War. Guided by travel companies instead of academic institutions, these curious crowds began to appear in almost all parts of İstanbul. They were obsessed with the Eastern image the previous generation of travelers had created: the Sultan’s harem, whirling dervishes, stray dogs, and female sexuality hidden behind the veil and the chador were the most provocative aspects of this image.

In a letter he wrote to his publisher Timothée O’Neddy, de Nerval complained about the social predictability of stations, the punctuality of scheduled boats, and criticized the new geometry of life Europe has established: “What a bizarre city, this Constantinople! Glamour and destitution, tears and joy; people act more arbitrarily here than anywhere else, but that also comes with more liberties.

As children of the same land, they show far more tolerance to one another than our various provincial people or diverse partisan groups ever could. Four different communities coexist without hating one another too much. Turks, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews.

The decline of creative travel and its transformation into a monotonous act of consumption, on the other hand, was a commercial adventure that extended from the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid to the present.

By late 19th
century, the European bourgeoisie’s interest in İstanbul was on the rise. Going
into operation during this period, the new hotels of İstanbul were considered
the modern architectural symbols of the city. Built for the affluent customers
of La Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, which ran the Orient Express
between Paris and İstanbul, the Pera Palace Hotel was the most famous of these.
Pera Palace was completed in 1894 and opened its doors in early 1895, offering
the most luxurious amenities of the period: an elevator, hot water, and radiators… 

Designed by architect Alexandre Vallaury, the hotel reflected the classic lines of Orientalism coupled with the highly popular Eclectic style of the period. The ballroom, for example, epitomized the Orientalist influence. It featured one large and one small dining hall on both ends. Throughout the years of Armistice, these halls were almost transformed into the headquarters of the Occupying Forces and a number of critical decisions concerning the future of the Ottoman Empire were made in their mystical atmosphere.

The primary principle of a programmed journey to the East was to lift the shawl draped over modernity and allow tourists to enjoy the pleasure of reality that emerged from the contrasts. In that respect, the Europeans were highly impressed with seeing the rundown historical fabric of the ancient İstanbul within the walls against the backdrop of the modern face of the future, namely Galata-Beyoğlu.

Hoping to be left entirely in the past, the more this civilization of fez and chador stumbled on the path to modernization, the more it was augmenting the pleasure Westerners derived from watching such a display of tragedy.

Roaming the streets of the city freely was not advised by the guides, for as much as the stumbling modernization increased the pleasure the West took from the city, a wall of security in the fullest sense had not yet been built for a city still unrestrained by law. The guidebooks of the period were filled with warnings about the challenges and unfavorable circumstances tourists visiting İstanbul could face. In reality, each warning was a reflection of the prejudices deeply rooted in the minds of foreigners.

The image of the East was a product neither of reality, nor of the imagination; it was a tool of expression of the intellectual construct, where the two were integrated and one could act as the raison d’être of the other. Shaped by the observations and dreams of European travelers, these images also determined the perspective of tourist groups visiting İstanbul.

The palace of the mighty sultan, harem women, seaside mansions of the Bosphorus, Sultanahmet Square, beggars, whirling dervishes, stray dogs, firefighters, cemeteries, and other social values that represented a complex cultural design altogether comprised both an open invitation to the East and a point of reference for the West.

Spreading rapidly across Europe in the 19th century, the passion for luxury travel reached a new height following the inauguration of the Paris-İstanbul line of the Orient-Express in 1883.

As the historic operator of the Orient-Express, Wagons-Lits organized rides to İstanbul via the Danube until 1889.

Having purchased the Pera Palace in 1895, the company made no concessions on comfort and offered the cuisine and music of the countries on its itinerary to select guests.

Sea voyages to İstanbul had two different itineraries that historically complemented one another: the north route reaching İstanbul via the Danube – Black Sea and run by the Danube Maritime Company between 1829 and the 1870s and the Mediterranean-Adriatic –south– route brought into service in 1833. Cruise ships run by Messageries Maritimes in 1851 would depart from Marseille, France.

This line was also the one most frequently used by the Young Turks fleeing the oppressive regime of Abdülhamid II. The 20th century witnessed the first scheduled flights organized by airline companies. In 1923, a French-Romanian airline company, which later took on the name CIDNA (Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne), began flying to İstanbul via Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade.