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Istanbul landmark seeks return to glory era (AP)

This is an undated photo provided by the hotel management of the Pera Palace which shows the main hall of Pera Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. It was the last stop on the Orient Express, a grand hotel with Istanbul's first electric elevator where artists and aristocrats sipped champagne beneath chandeliers as the Ottoman Empire dissolved and the world drifted toward war. On Sept. 1, the Pera Palace will re-open after a two-year restoration that cost euro23 million ( million), seeking to capture the lost sparkle of what was one of Istanbul's most prominent landmarks.(AP Photo/Pera Palace,HO) ** EDITORIAL USE ONLY **AP - It was the last stop on the Orient Express, a grand hotel with Istanbul's first electric elevator where artists and aristocrats sipped champagne beneath chandeliers as the Ottoman Empire dissolved and the world drifted toward war.