Location: Abdullah Aga Cad, Beylerbeyi Mahalessi, Asian side Map
Constructed: 1829–1832 by Sultan Abdülaziz
Tel. (0216) 321 93 20
Bus: 15
Open: 9:30am- 6pm Tue- Wed & Fri- Sun
Beylerbeyi Palace was a summer Ottoman palace located in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul. Beylerbeyi Palace, which is used as a museum today, is part of a complex consisting of various buildings and other elements connected to it. It takes its name from the Beylerbeyi district where it is located. It was built between 1863-1865, under the architectship of Sarkis Balyan, upon the instructions of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz.
Before the present palace was built, there was a wooden palace built
in 1832 and some of its structures in this region. Ottoman Sultan II. A
fire broke out in this building, which was built by Mahmud as a summer
palace, in 1851, while Sultan Abdülmecid was staying. From that date on,
it was not used on the grounds that it was "unlucky" and was demolished
in 1861 upon the instructions of Abdülaziz, who ascended to the throne.
The construction of today's palace started on August 6, 1863. The
construction of the palace was completed in 1864; After the selection,
construction and placement of the furniture was completed, the official
opening took place on April 21, 1865.
Abdulaziz used Beylerbeyi
Palace along with other summer palaces, usually at the end of April
every year; He hosted some heads of state in this palace who wanted to
return this visit after his trip to Europe and pay a courtesy visit on
the occasion of the opening of the Suez Canal.
II. During the War
of 93, which broke out at the beginning of Abdulhamid's reign, first the
immigrants and then some of the wounded veterans were settled and
treated in this palace. Beylerbeyi Palace was repaired by architect
Vedat Tek in 1909. II. Abdulhamid spent the last six years of his life
under house arrest in this palace and died in this palace on February
10, 1918.
During the republic period, the palace was left to the
management of the Presidency of National Palaces with a decree of the
council of ministers dated 1925. Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi, who came to
Turkey at the invitation of President Atatürk in 1934, was hosted in
this palace. A part of the large garden of the palace was given to the
Highways Department and a part to the Naval Petty Officer School. The
construction of the Bosphorus Bridge, built in 1973, near the palace
also caused the integrity of the palace to be disrupted. Both the
construction of the Bosphorus Bridge and the structures used by various
institutions caused the originality of the palace to deteriorate. Today,
it is open to visitors as a museum-palace.
The summer palace, which is the real palace; It was made by combining
Renaissance, Baroque and east-west styles. The palace, built on the pier
by the sea, is a masonry building and is a 2-storey structure built on a
high basement. Palace; It consists of Harem (northern section) and
Mabeyn-i Hümayun (southern section) apartments; It contains three
entrances, six large halls, 24 rooms, 1 Turkish bath and 1 bathroom. The
palace has a rectangular structure. The roof of the palace is hidden by
a railing that goes around all facades. Its external appearance is
separated by a strongly defined molding separating the ground floor and
the upper floor. The middle sections of the sea and side facades of the
palace are arranged in three sections extending outward. The windows of
the building are rectangular in shape and decorated with arches. There
are single and double columns between the windows and wall corners. The
first floor is completely paved with marble, and the second floor is
paved with marble-like stones.
The interior of the palace is also
decorated with elements such as wood carving, gold embroidery, paintings
and writing. The plan of both floors consists of rooms around a large
hall in the middle. On the ground floor, there is a pool whose water is
taken from the sea and covered with glass. There are a total of four
rooms in the corners of the hall on the ground floor. You can climb from
the ground floor to the upper floor via a wide double-armed staircase or
service staircase opposite the pool. The large hall on the upper floor
is called the Reception Hall. On the second floor, apart from the large
hall, there are two small halls and small rooms overlooking the sea and
land fronts. Sultan Abdülaziz showed special interest in the interior
decoration of the palace, and due to his passion for the sea, he
engraved sea and ship themes into some of the frames and cartridges on
the ceilings of the palace. Apart from this, there are poems written in
thuluth and ta'lik calligraphy. The harem section of the palace is more
simply arranged. The palace has three entrances: Harem, Selamlik and
seat gates.
In addition to the sultans, the palace has hosted many famous names so far. II. After the Balkan Wars, Abdulhamid was taken from the Alatini Mansion in Thessaloniki for security reasons and brought to Beylerbeyi Palace and spent the rest of his life in this palace. The first important foreign guest of the palace was III. Napoleon's wife was Eugénie de Montijo. Other important guests of the palace are the Montenegrin King Nicholas I, the Shah of Iran Nasir al-Din Shah, the Grand Duke Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev, who came to Istanbul to sign the Treaty of San Stefano, and the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph. During the Republic period, Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi, who came to Istanbul in 1934 as the guest of Atatürk, was hosted in this palace. In 1936, the Balkan Games Festival was held in this palace and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk spent that night in Beylerbeyi Palace.[