ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

The marble pool at the entrance of the Armada Hotel known as the "The Marble Pool" has been home to a group of very special guests since the 2000s. What was one male and female when they arrived has now blossomed into an extended turtle family! These turtles are from the "red-eared reptiles" (“trachemys scripta elegans”) family from the banks of the Mississippi river. Their colors and patterns are so beautiful they attract attention from all of our guests, local and foreign alike. They have vertical yellow stripes with greenish-brown shells, red stripes above their eyes that resemble ears, shiny yellow stripes on their neck, feet and tails and yellow spots topped with black ones on their undersides. These turtles create a color storm all their own and are loved by everyone from seven to 70. When they first arrived in Istanbul, French caricaturist George Wolinski, born in Tunisia in 1934, who always stayed at the Armada during his trips to Istanbul and loved the turtles, used the turtle’s red ears to show how he saw the Armada as he wrote by drawing of his trip. He depicts the Armada as a "lovely woman with turtles" in his design on display at the Coffee House Pool.