Bodrum used to be an isolated fishing village and penal colony on Turkey’s remote Aegean Coast. But for the last decade or so it’s been the go-to destination for wealthy Istanbulus, not to mention whole colonies of British and Russian travelers looking for sun, sand and kebaps. Still, its appeal is pretty timeless – azure water, fresh seafood, rows of olive trees stretching along dry hills. I visited recently and reported back on a unique art-themed hotel for The New York Times’ In Transit blog.
In Bodrum, Turkey, a Hotel for Art and Artists
By Remy Scalza for The New York Times In Transit Blog
This spring, guests at Casa Dell’Arte will have access to a white sand beach, Balinese and deep-tissue massage and workshops with the Pakistani experimental video artist and provocateur Basir Mahmood.
Opened in 2007 by Turkey’s first family of modern art, the Buyukkusoglus, Casa Dell’Arte (casadellartegallery.com) is a 12-suite hotel outside the Aegean beach town of Bodrum that doubles as one of the country’s most important contemporary art galleries. Hung in hallways and guest rooms inside the airy manor home are hundreds of Turkish masterpieces collectively valued at more than $4 million, including seminal works by Fikret Moualla, regarded as Turkey’s van Gogh.
Click here to read the rest on The New York Times website.
