Sultanahmet Jail ( tr, Sultanahmet Cezaevi), a former

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, is now the luxury Four Seasons Hotel at Sultanahmet. It is located in Sultanahmet neighborhood of

Fatih Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...

district on the historical peninsula. Four Seasons Sultanahmet interior March 2008

History

Built in 1918/1919, it was the first jailhouse in the capital of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, constructed in a contemporary concept considering the regulation of the daily life and relationship with the outside of inmates, who were awaiting trial or serving brief sentences. The building was designed in Turkish neoclassical style in the beginning of the period called "First National Architecture". It was built next to the

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

building, which was constructed in 1845 initially as university ( ota, Darülfünun). An inscription in

Ottoman language Ottoman Turkish ( ota, لِسانِ عُثمانى, Lisân-ı Osmânî, ; tr, Osmanlı Türkçesi) was the standardized register of the Turkish language used by the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extens ...

upon the main gate of the building states the name of the facility as the "Dersaadet Murder Jail" ( ota, Dersaadet Cinayet Tevkifhanesi). It is a four-story building with guard towers enclosing a courtyard. In the jailhouse, juveniles and women were also detained. Following the establishment of the Sağmalcılar prison, the inmates were transferred to the new site and the jail was abandoned on January 25, 1969. Later during the military rule, the building continued to be used as a military jailhouse.

Notable inmates

Sultanahmet Jail served mostly as a prison reserved for writers, journalists, artists as intellectual

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...

s sentenced. *

Billy Hayes Billy or Bill Hayes may refer to: In entertainment * Bill Hayes (actor) (born 1925), American actor and singer * Bill Hayes (television producer), executive producer of ''Jon & Kate + 8'' * Billy Hayes (musician) (born 1985), drummer in Wavves and ...

(1947–) writer, actor and film director. Billy Hayes spent one night in Sultanahmet Jail after being arrested in 1970 and he was sent to Sağmalcılar prison afterwards. *

Mihri Belli Mihri Belli (December 1915 – 16 August 2011) was a prominent leader of the socialist movement in Turkey. He fought for the communist side in the Greek Civil War. Belli was repeatedly prosecuted and sentenced to prison for his political views, ...

(1916–2011) communist leader *

Deniz Gezmiş Deniz Gezmiş (27 February 1947 – 6 May 1972) was a Turkish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, student leader, and political activist in Turkey in the late 1960s. He was one of the founding members of the People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THK ...

(1947–1972) militant *

Nazım Hikmet A nazim Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of In ...

(1901–1963) poet, in 1938/1939 and later in 1950 again *

Rıfat Ilgaz Rıfat Ilgaz (7 May 1911 – 7 July 1993) was a Turkish teacher, writer and poet. Biography He was born in Cide, in the Kastamonu Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey). Ilgaz was one of Turkey’s best-known and most prolific poets ...

(1911–1993) lecturer and writer *

Orhan Kemal Orhan Kemal (15 September 1914 – 2 June 1970) is the pen name of Turkish novelist Mehmet Raşit Öğütçü. He is known for his realist novels that describe the life of the poor in Turkey. Biography Orhan Kemal was born in Ceyhan, Adana, ...

(1914–1970) novelist * Hikmet Kıvılcımlı (1902–1971) communist leader *

Aziz Nesin Aziz Nesin (; born Mehmet Nusret, 20 December 1915 – 6 July 1995) was a Turkish writer, humorist and the author of more than 100 books. Born in a time when Turks did not have official surnames, he had to adopt one after the Surname Law of ...

(1915–1995) humorist * Kemal Tahir (1910–1973) novelist *

Vedat Türkali Abdülkadir "Demirkan" Pirhasan (13 May 1919 – 29 August 2016), known by his pen name as Vedat Türkali, was a Turkish screenwriter, novelist, playwright, intellectual, teacher and the member of the Democratic People's Party. He is also credi ...

(1919–2016) screenwriter

Conversion into hotel

In 1992, after a long period of neglect, a redevelopment project was considered to convert the building into a hotel. The jailhouse, having great significance in terms of history of art and architecture, was to undergo a meticulous renovation and open as a deluxe hotel under

Regent Hotels & Resorts Regent Hotels & Resorts is a British luxury hospitality brand, founded by hotelier Robert H. Burns in 1970. After passing through different owners since foundation, it is currently jointly owned by IHG Hotels & Resorts and Formosa International Ho ...

as The Regent Istanbul. Following the acquisition of Regent by Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in 1992, the project was rebranded and opened in 1996 as Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet. The property closed in 2020 to undergo a comprehensive renovation, and reopened on December 1, 2021.

In literature

The jailhouse was mentioned in

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

's 1932 thriller novel '' Stamboul Train''. The site is featured in the poem " For Nazim Hikmet in the Old Prison, Now a Four Seasons Hotel" by the American poet

Myra Shapiro Myra ( grc, Μύρα, ''Mýra'') was a Lycian, then ancient Greek, then Greco-Roman, then Byzantine Greek, then Ottoman town in Lycia, which became the small Turkish town of Kale, renamed Demre in 2005, in the present-day Antalya Province of ...

References

External links