Alessandro Valeri’s Design for Bulgur Palas: A Recent Discovery, a Living Legacy

Year 2025, Volume: 7, 237 - 251, 30.12.2025

Paolo Girardelli

https://doi.org/10.53979/yillik.1844533

Abstract

Prologue
The main idea for this essay stems from the fortunate overlap of two independent initiatives. The first was the acquisition, restoration, and reopening of Bulgur Palas, until then a largely forgotten landmark, by the Municipality of Istanbul (2021–25). The second was my involvement in the European project CROSS-LOOKING, managed within the framework of Creative Europe by Andrea Savorani Neri, a photographer and journalist with genealogical ties to European/Levantine artists active in Istanbul between 1881 and 1923. Andrea’s great-grandmother Angelina Italia Valeri Neri (1887–1928) was in fact the daughter of the painter Salvatore Valeri, who moved from Rome to Istanbul in 1881 and became the first professor of painting at the Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi, or Academy of Fine Arts (1883). Italia’s twin brother, Alessandro (1887–1920), enjoyed a prolific career as an architect, cut short by his premature death, probably of the Spanish flu. In addition, Salvatore Valeri’s brother-in-law was the famous photographer Gabriel Lekegian (1853–1920), active mostly in Cairo.

Keywords

Alessandro Valeri , Bulgur Palas , Levantine , Bolulu Habib Bey Mansion , Fatih , Giulio Mongeri , Gabriel Lekegian

References

• 1 “Historic Bulgur Palas Reopens as Cultural Center,” Hurriyet Daily News, 1 March 2024, https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/historic-bulgur-palas-reopens-as-cultural-center-191201.