Botter Apartmanı (Casa Botter)

An apartment building on İstiklal Avenue known as Istanbul's first Art Nouveau building. Designed in 1900-1901 by the Italian architect Raimondo D'Aronco for Jean Botter, the Dutch official tailor to the palace under Abdülhamid II, it was the first building in the Ottoman Empire used as a fashion house. Its facade, decorated with plant motifs, floral borders and reliefs of female heads, reflects D'Aronco's style. The Botter family sold the building in 1917 and moved to Paris. Restored by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's heritage teams, it reopened in April 2023 as the Casa Botter Art and Design Centre and hosts changing exhibitions. According to the municipality's page it is closed on Mondays.