“The Flying Man” The Dream…Back in the 1630’s at the time of the Ottoman Empire, in the district of Üsküdar, Istanbul used to live an intelligent man who was named Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi. Every morning he would follow his daily routine and go ahead and take his place near the Bosphorus and take in the view with the main focus point for him being the tall tower – the Galata tower situated across the water. The Galata Tower was the building that was the tallest of all the buildings surrounding it. Every day in his usual spot the world walked by him and he never paid any attention to the food seller or the hustling and bustling noises, Hezarfen, was dreaming as always, his dream was the same that he was flying, flying high across the Bosphorus with the sea birds. He wanted to fly across the river and take an ariel view of all the amazing sites that were available to Istanbul.

Days turned to weeks and Hezarfen continued his daily routine of dreaming and then came the moment, he knew that he had to replicate the bird’s movements. The answer to his dreams came to him….” Wings” that was the moment he knew he needed wings to help him achieve his dream. He immediately ran over to his workshop where he started the construction of his wings and then along came his friend, Mehmet with a second man who had some drawings, the drawings were a design of wings drawn by Leonardo da Vinci. 

Hezarfen, worked day in day out on his wings. Someday later with all the joy on his face Hezarfen tells his friend “My wings are ready” after embracing his friend Mehmet excitingly replies, “Let’s see you fly then” At this point in Istanbul almost everyone was aware of this news, Hezarfen decided he needs to practice, so he along with his friend visits the hill and then he looks down, “Hey! Don’t jump” shouts Mehmet “I have to” replies Hezarfen and then crash! His friend asks, “are you hurt”? “No” replies Hezarfen “but my wings are broken” They take the broken wings to the workshop and work on repairing them. “They must be bigger” Hezarfen say’s “and I need to see the chief of Galata” “but why?” replies Mehmet “I want to fly from Galata Tower, so I need his permission” Hezarfen visits the chief in Galata Tower and to his surprise the chief gives him the permission to fly from the tower. Two weeks later the wings were ready and whilst Hezarfen had the permission of the chief he still required the permission of the Sultan, he decided he would meet with the Sultan and ask for permission. Seven days later, Hezarfen goes to the palace, he walks past Haghia Sophia and he begins to feel nervous about receiving permission, “please give me permission” he thinks, he walks to the Blue Mosque “please say yes” he thinks. Finally, the time had arrived for his meeting with the Sultan, sweating with nervousness he walks to the Sultan and asks for permission to fly across the Bosphorus, “you have it, you must take the flight tomorrow” the Sultan replies, Hezarfen was ecstatic, finally the dream was going to be a reality. The following day, hoping the wind was good Hezarfen was preparing his wings for the magical flight. It was the morning of the flight and Hezarfen stands happily with his wings at the top of the Galata Tower, suddenly he takes the leap and jumps, the falling speed was fast and people started to scream “he is falling” and then his beautiful white wings opened and starting to flap he pushed harder, “I’m flying” he cried he flew gracefully over the Bosphorus taking in the amazing views of Istanbul and landed across the strait in Üsküdar, the magical flight had happened and the dream finally was a reality.

The Wings Hotel, Istanbul is inspired by the Dream and Wings of Hezarfen. The Hotel in all its glory is a beautiful and elegant place to visit and for you to enjoy all your special moment's and like the magical moment that was created during the flight, we are confident that each and every person who visits the Hotel will leave feeling like they have witnessed a truly special moment of their lifetime.

Upon arriving at the Hotel, you will witness the hotel's lobby design replicating the wave of the wings, walking through the Hotel you will experience the tentacles of Hezarfen and experience the design of the wings at the entrance of each floor level.

The hotel gives the opportunity to its guests to wake up every day with a true feel of the magical moment and re live the history with its offering of the amazing sites that were mentioned in the Hezarfen story, many rooms in the hotel allow for a breath-taking view of the historical Galata Tower, which is literally a stone's throw away, along with the Bosphorus, Topkapi Palace - Home of the Sultan, Hagia Sophia - the first place where Hezarfen stopped to calm down before meeting the Sultan and the final stop the most incredible and historical Sultan Ahmet Mosque.

Being located in the center of Istanbul, The Wings Hotel allows you immediate access to Karaköy where you can find Istanbul's most trendy eating, drinking and entertainment venues, you can discover many quality places with delicious Turkish and international cuisine. Taking in the magical sites of the Bosphorus, and passing the historical Galata bridge, follow a very pleasant hiking trail and walk to the mentioned historical sites along with other touristic places of Istanbul such as Taksim, İstiklal Caddesi, Egyptian Market, Yerebatan Cistern and the Grand Bazaar. All locations are also available by a short tram ride if you are not feeling energetic to walk the route. 

The Wings Hotel, Istanbul truly is a place for you to experience the beauty of Istanbul, re-live a major element of Ottoman History, enjoy genuine Turkish culture and take your flight to higher levels.