Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
palace at Dolmabahçe, appointing as his chief architect Nikoğos
Balyan, who worked in collaboration with his father, Karabet. The
Balyans were from a distinguished Armenian family of architects who
built several palaces and mosques for the sultans during the second
half of the nineteenth century. The present palace of Dolmabahçe
was completed in 1854, although Sultan Abdül Mecit and the royal
family did not move in till 1856, finally abandoning the palace at
Topkapı Sarayı that had been the imperial residence for nearly four
centuries. Dolmabahçe was used as the principal imperial residence
by all of the latter sultans except Abdül Hamit II, who preferred his
own more sequestered palace at Yıldız. After the end of the Empire,
Dolmabahçe served for a time as a state residence and was used to
entertain visiting royalty and other distinguished visitors. Atatürk
used it as the presidential residence when he was in Istanbul, and
he died here on 10 November 1938. In recent years Dolmabahçe
has been completely restored and is now open as a museum, one of
the most popular attractions in the city. Tours of the palace begin at
the ornate entryway to the south of the palace, passing from there
through the royal gardens to the south wing of the palace.
The most impressive aspect of the palace is its seaside façade of
white marble, with the edifice itself 284 metres in length along the
seaside and fronting on a walled quay 600 metres long. The central
part of the palace is a great imperial state hall flanked by the two
main wings containing the state rooms and the royal apartments, the
selamlık on one side and the harem on the other, with the apartment
of the Sultan Valide in a separate wing linked to the harem through
the apartment of the Crown Prince, and with an additional harem
for his women and those of the other princes, and then still another
residence at the north-west corner of the palace for the Kızlar Ağası,
the Chief Black Eunuch. The palace complex also included rooms
for those of the palace staf who lived within Dolmabahçe, as well
as kitchens, an imaret to feed the staf, a pharmacy, stables, carriage
houses, and barracks for the halberdiers who guarded the imperial
residence. All in all, there are a total of 285 rooms, 43 large salons, six
balconies, and six hamams on three storeys, with the Sultan's private
bath equipped with an alabaster bath tub.
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