Saturday, December 3, 2011

the end station of the original Orient Express at Constantinople


La Gare des Chemins de Fer Orientaux in Constantinople (named after the Roman emperor Constantine; since the 1930s renamed Istanbul) was the endpoint of the original Orient Express (see earlier posts). 

The building was opened in 1890 and is still in use for trains from Europe today.  As the city where the Occident (West) and Orient (East) meet, the building needed to reflect this with such styles as bands of bricks in facades, windows with peak arches, a wide entrance door in the middle reminiscent of stone portals, and stained glass.

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