GPS : 41°01'33.0"N 28°58'17.3"E / 41.025821, 28.971466
PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM
After the conquest of the Spain by Muslims, the famous monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella had a dislike for Jews getting richer day by day under the rule of Muslims. And they forced Jews out of the area issuing a circular in order to Christianize the area. If the Jews didn’t comply with the circular, they would be executed. So they fled from Iberian Peninsula and this was how Sephardi Jews (Sephardi means “Jews of Spain” in Hebrew) came into view.
This folk left their territory in a hurry and migrated to various parts of Europe but especially in Ottoman Empire. One of them was Camondo Family. At first they moved into Venice and then after the faling of Venice under Austrian rule, they moved in Istanbul. The head of family “Abraham Solomon Camondo” with his company named “Camondo & Cie” was getting wealthier everyday so much that before Ottoman had a national bank; his bank was the most powerful bank of the Empire. During the War of Cyprus Ottoman Empire was financed by Camondo Family and Ottoman was so much indebted that the family had a say in state matters such as Edict of Reform.
Despite the many restrictions and sumptuary laws imposed on all minorities, the family flourished as merchants in the business section at Galata at the outskirts of the city. They branched into finance in 1802 with the founding of their own bank, Isaac Camondo & Cie. On Isaac's death in 1832 his brother Abraham Salomon Camondo inherited the bank. He prospered greatly and became the prime banker to the Ottoman Empire until the founding of the Imperial Ottoman Bank in 1863.
Camondo Family is also known for their charitableness. They helped the Ottoman become westernized, the modern banking business to develop, evolve the education, the first municipality of the nation "6th Department" to be built as the early form of Beyoğlu Municipality. They had a lot of buildings constructed, which were regarded as symbol of their wealth. Except numerous public houses in Karaköy, Pera and Galata; they had also 2 buildings for themselves constructed.
One of them, which belong to Naval Forces in Kasımpaşa today, was a palace of this family. While the building in Kasımpaşa on the shore of the Golden Horn (Turkish name Haliç) was used for summers, Camondo Apartment was used for winters. But they preferred to reside generally in Camondo Apartment. The building, located in Serdar-i Ekrem Street in Galata, was constructed for the residence of family in 1861.
The destiny of the family began to shape in this building which catches the eyes by its wooden bay windows. The building first witnessed the death of Rafael and consequently the depression of Abraham Salomon. Abraham Salomon wanted to get away from the building and leave Istanbul, so he moved in Paris. A couple of years later when he died in Paris and his body was brought to Istanbul according to his will, it was first carried to this building and was sent off on an eternal journey from here.
In 1866, the year Venice became part of Italy after a peace treaty ended the Austro-Prussian War, Abraham Salomon Camondo's son Raphaël died. In 1869, the eighty-six-year-old patriarch followed his grandsons Behor Abraham Camondo and Nissim de Camondo to Paris, France, a city the family had previously frequented and where they had established business connections.
In recognition of his contributions and financial assistance to the liberation of Venetia from the Austrian Empire, in 1870 Abraham Salomon Camondo was created a hereditary count by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy. Abraham (1785–1873) died three years later in Paris but in accordance with his wishes his remains were returned to Istanbul for burial there in the Jewish cemetery at Hasköy, a neighbourhood on the Golden Horn in Istanbul. His two grandsons remained in Paris and continued to successfully expand their banking business.
This family is now extinct; the last descendants, Nissim de Camondo was killed in aerial combat during World War I in 1917, his father Moïse de Camondo died in 1935, his daughter (and sister of Nissim) Béatrice de Camondo, and her two children Fanny and Bertrand as well as her husband Léon Reinach were deported and murdered in Auschwitz from 1943 to 1945 during World War II.
KAMONDO APARTS
For a long time the building stood there waiting because there was no inheritor. And it has been restored recently. Today of course it is being used as a hotel.
Wifi, Bathroom, Television, Refrigerator, Bakery, Safe Case, Hair Dryer, Combi, 24 hours hot water, Air Conditioning, Kettle
APART 1 : 38 m2
APART 2 : 40 m2
APART 3 : 45 m2
KAMONDO CAFE
LOCATION SATELLITE MAP
WEB SITE : Kamondo Apartments
MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : info@kamondoapartments.com
Phone : +90 544 336 34 94
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