Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
diferent periods from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. The
mimber and kürsü are unusually elegant and beautiful works, both of
them of wood inlaid with ivory. It has two minarets, the second one
added later by Mahmut II.
Beyond the village, and almost directly under the Bosphorus
Bridge, we now come to the Palace of Beylerbey. The palace and the
village were named after a Beylerbey, an Ottoman title that literally
means Lord of Lords; this was Mehmet Paşa, Governor of Rumeli in
the reign of Murat III (r. 1574-95). Mehmet Paşa built a mansion
on this site at that time, and though it eventually vanished, the name
Beylerbey lived on. The present Palace of Beylerbey was built for
Abdül Aziz in 1861-5 by Sarkis Balyan, brother of Nikoğos Balyan,
architect of Dolmabahçe Sarayı. Beylerbey was used mainly as a
summer lodge and as a residence for visiting dignitaries, one of the
first being the Empress Eugénie of France, later visitors including the
Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, the Shah Nasireddin of Persia, and
King Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson of England. Abdül Hamit II
lived here after his return from exile
in Salonica, dying in Beylerbey
in 1918. In recent years the palace has been splendidly restored and
is now open as a museum.
The palace is divided into the usual selamlık and harem. The ground
floor of this three-storey building houses the kitchens, with the state
rooms and the imperial apartments on the two upper floors, a total of
26 elegantly furnished rooms, with six grand salons. The grandest of
these salons are the Yellow Pavilion and the Marble Pavilion, the latter
focused on a large pool with an elaborate cascade fountain. Beylerbey
is as elaborately furnished and decorated as Dolmabahçe, including
Hereke carpets; chandeliers of Bohemian crystal; French clocks; vases
from China, Japan, France, and the imperial Ottoman workshops at
Yıldız; and some superb murals by painters such as Aivazovski. The
Royal Stables have also been restored; these occupy the building to
the right of the palace as one looks at it from the sea. From the sea the
palace is extremely attractive, with its two little marble pavilions at
either end of the marble quay and bordered by lovely gardens.
Beyond Beylerbey we come to Kuzguncuk, another pretty village
adorned by a very handsome yalı with a rounded façade on the
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