Beylerbeyi Palace

Beylerbeyi Palace
General information
Architectural style Ottoman, Second Empire
Town or city Istanbul
Country Turkey
Construction started 1861
Client Sultan Abdülaziz
Owner Turkish state
Technical details
Structural system main palace, pavilions and gardens
Design and construction
Architect Hagop Balyan, Sarkis Balyan
Beylerbeyi Palace interior
Sultan's bedroom

The Beylerbeyi Palace (Turkish: Beylerbeyi Sarayı), Beylerbeyi meaning "Lord of Lords", is located in the Beylerbeyi neighbourhood of Üsküdar district in Istanbul, Turkey at the Asian side of the Bosphorus. An Imperial Ottoman summer residence built in the 1860s, it is now situated immediately north of the 1973 Bosphorus Bridge.

History

Beylerbeyi Palace was commissioned by Sultan Abdülaziz (1830–1876) and built between 1861 and 1865 as a summer residence and a place to entertain visiting heads of state. Empress Eugénie of France visited Beylerbeyi on her way to the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and had her face slapped by the sultan's mother, Pertevniyal Sultan, for daring to enter the palace on the arm of Abdülaziz. (Despite her initial reception, Empress Eugénie of France was so delighted by the elegance of the palace that she had a copy of the window in the guest room made for her bedroom in Tuileries Palace, in Paris.) Other regal visitors to the palace included the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

The palace was the last place of captivity of the deposed sultan Abdulhamid II from 1912 until his death there in 1918.

Description

Designed in the Second Empire style by Sarkis Balyan, Beylerbeyi Palace seems fairly restrained compared to the excesses of the earlier Dolmabahçe or Küçüksu palaces.

The palace looks its most attractive from the Bosphorus, from where its two bathing pavilions, one for the harem (women's only) and the other for the selamlik (men's only), can best be seen. One of the most attractive rooms is the reception hall, which has a pool and fountain. Running water was popular in Ottoman houses for its pleasant sound and cooling effect in the heat.

Egyptian reed matting is used on the floor as a form of insulation. The crystal chandeliers are mostly French Baccarat and the carpets are from Hereke.

See also

Literature

External links

Media related to Beylerbeyi Palace at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 41°02′35″N 29°02′24″E / 41.043°N 29.040°E / 41.043; 29.040


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.