Beylerbeyi Palace

 

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.

 

History

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.

 

Architecture

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.

 

Famous guests

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.[