Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The gardens here, originally known as those of Çırağan, are first
mentioned in Ottoman history in the reign of Murat IV (r. 1623-40),
who bestowed them upon his daughter Kaya Sultan and her husband
Melek Ahmet Paşa. The gardens of Çırağan became famous during
the reign of Ahmet III (1703-30), the Tulip King, who gave them
to his son-in-law, the Grand Vezir Nevşehirli Ibrahim Paşa. Ibrahim
Paşa hosted the Sultan and his court in the Gardens of Çırağan in
a series of parties that began each year on the night of the first full
moon in April, a delightful custom that lasted throughout the epoch
known in Turkish history as the Lale Devri, the Age of Tulips. The
first imperial structure known to have been erected here was a pavilion
built for Mihrişah Sultan, mother of Selim III (r. 1789-1807), but
this has now vanished. Yıldız Sarayı, the Palace of the Star, first began
to take form during the reign of Mahmut II (r. 1808-39), and the
buildings that one sees today date from his reign to that of Abdül
Hamit II (r. 1876-1909), with most of the structures dating from
the latter period.
One can enter Yildiz Park either from the Bosphorus road or
from the upper entrance (Dağ Kapısı), which is situated of Barbaros
Bulvarı. Either way, one can walk through the park, which is virtually
the last extensive bit of greenery left on the European shore of the
Bosphorus. A number of kiosks and greenhouses on the palace grounds
have been restored by the Turkish Touring and Automobile Club,
including Malta Köşkü, Çadır Köşkü, Lale Sera (Pink Conservatory),
and Yeşil Sera (Green Conservatory), with the first two now serving
as cafés and the latter two as tea-rooms. The setting of the café outside
the Malta Köşkü is superb, with a romantic view of the Bosphorus
through a frieze of greenery, giving one some idea of how beautiful
the shores of these straits were in times past.
The grandest and most interesting structure at Yıldız Sarayı is
the Şale, so-called because of its resemblance to a Swiss chalet. This
consists of two buildings, the first erected in 1889 and the second in
1898, the latter apparently the work of the Italian architect Raimondo
D'Aronco, who brought the Art Nouveau style of architecture to
Istanbul under the name of the Stile Floreal. The Şale has some 50
rooms, the largest and grandest being the magnificent Reception
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