Grand Post Office

The Istanbul Grand Post Office (Turkish: Büyük Postane), or Istanbul Main Post Office, is an office building for postal services located in the Sirkeci neighborhood of the Eminönü quarter within the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was designed by architect Vedat Tek in First Turkish National architectural style and was constructed between 1905 and 1909. The four-story building houses a post office, the Sirkeci Post Office (Turkish: Sirkeci PTT Merkezi), office space for regional administration and, also since 2000, the Istanbul Postal Museum (Turkish: PTT İstanbul Müzesi). It is Turkey's largest post office building.

Istanbul Main Post Office
Büyük Postane (Grand Post Office)
Istanbul Main Post Office
Location of Main Post Office in Istanbul, Turkey
Former names	Yeni Postane (New Post Office) Posta ve Telegraf Nezareti (Ministry of Post and Telegraph)
Alternative names	Sirkeci PTT Merkezi (Sirkeci Post Office)
General information
Architectural style	Turkish Neoclassical
Location	Sirkeci
Address	Büyük Postane Cad. 25
Town or city	Istanbul
Country	Turkey
Coordinates	41.014568°N 28.974140°E / 41.014568; 28.974140
Construction started	1905
Completed	1909
Owner	Turkish Post
Technical details
Floor count	4
Floor area	(3,200 m2 (34,000 sq ft))
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Vedat Tek
Main contractor	Ottoman Government

History

Initially planned for use as the Ministry of Post and Telegraph building in the Ottoman Empire, its construction began in 1905, and was completed in 1909. An inscription in Ottoman Turkish alphabet on the tiled panel above the main entrance denotes "Ministry of Post and Telegraph" (Ottoman Turkish: پوسته و تلغراف نظارتی). The building was renamed "New Post Office" (Turkish: Yeni Postane) in the 1930s, some time after the establishment of the Turkish Republic, and then "Grand Post Office" (Turkish: Büyük Postane).^[1][2]

In the Republic's early years, between 1927 and 1936, the building temporarily housed Istanbul Radio.^[1] From 1958 on, it was used solely for postal and telegraphy services. Today, the ground floor is the Sirkeci Post Office, the first floor is occupied by its directorate while the second and third floors are offices for the regional post directorate of Istanbul's European side.^[2]

On May 6, 2000, part of the building was converted into Istanbul Postal Museum occupying four stories. The museum informs visitors about the country's history of communication and telecommunication services that officially began on October 23, 1840. The museum consists of four sections for post, telegraph, telephone and postage stamps.^[3][4]

Architecture

The Main Post Office is situated in close distance to Spice Bazaar, New Mosque, Sirkeci Railway Terminal and Istanbul 4th Vakıf Han, which is a five-star hotel today. Architect Vedat Tek (1873–1942) designed the building as one of the earliest examples of First Turkish National architecture style.^[1][5]

The four-story building^[3] has a floor area of (3,200 m² (34,000 sq ft)). The main entrance is elevated reachable by stairs in front of the building. The building is flanked by two turrets.^[1] The facade is of cut stone and marble. It is believed that the bricks were specially designed by Vedat Tek. 16th century style classical Ottoman decorative elements are predominant in the building's ornaments including its facade with two-color stone workmanship, tiled panels with Islamic geometric patterns and Kufic calligraphic scripts, sills with tiled panels as well as muqarnas in pillar heads and corbels.^[2]

The main entrance opens to a very large atrium in the center of the building. The three-story high, rectangle shaped hall is surrounded by office rooms at each floor.^[1] The atrium is topped by glass in mainly orange and blue colors.^[2]

Image gallery

• 
  Exterior view of Istanbul Grand Post Office
• 
  Interior view of Istanbul Grand Post Office
• 
  Interior view of Istanbul Grand Post Office
• 
  Main entrance with inscription above

See also

• Istanbul Postal Museum

References

1. "Büyük Postane" (in Turkish). İstanbul 2010. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
2. "Sirkeci Grand Post Office With its 100 year old architecture and decorations" (PDF). Seramik Türkiye. 102. May–June 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
3. Ünal, Ertan (2005). "The PTT Museum". Skylife. Turkish Airlines. Archived from the original on 2012-09-19. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
4. "Edirne'den Kars'a kadar tüm detaylarıyla Türkiye'nin müze haritası". Zaman (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
5. Ergüvenç, Yılmaz (2007-03-30). "Son Yüzyılın Türk Mimarlık Sanatına Genel Bir Bakış (II)". Kant Haber (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2013-03-06.

External links