Dolmabahçe
Palace is the largest palace in Turkey. It is located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, along
the European shore of the Bosphorus Strait. The Palace served as the main
administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and
1909 to 1922. This palace was also used from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as his
summer presidential residence.
Until
the 17th century the area where Dolmabahçe Palace stands today was a small
bay on the İstanbul Strait, claimed by some to be where the Argonauts anchored
during their quest for the Golden Fleece, and where in 1453 Sultan Mehmed the
Conqueror had his fleet hauled ashore and across the hills to be refloated in
the Golden Horn. From the 17th century the bay was gradually filled in and
became one of the imperial parks on the Bosphourus known as Dolmabahçe,
literally meaning “filled garden”.
Dolmabahçe
Palace was built between the years 1843 and 1856 by the Empire's 31st Sultan,
Abdülmecid I. Previously, the Sultan and his family had lived at the Topkapı
Palace, but as the medieval palace Topkapı was lacking in contemporary style,
luxury, and comfort, as compared to the palaces of the European monarchs,
Abdülmecid decided to build a new modern palace.
The
construction cost five million Ottoman gold lira, or 35 tonnes of gold,
the equivalent of ca. $1.5 billion in today's (2013) values. The huge expenses contributed
to the deteriorating financial situation of the Ottoman Empire, which
eventually defaulted on its public debt in October
1875, with the subsequent establishment in 1881 of financial control over
the "sick man of Europe" by the European powers.
The
palace was home to six Sultans from 1856, when it was first inhabited, up until
the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924: The last royal to live here was Caliph Abdülmecid
Efendi.
Dolmabahçe
Palace has an area of 45,000 m2 (11.1 acres), and contains 285 rooms,
46 halls, 6 baths (hamam) and 68 toilets.
The
palace is consisted of three main sections: Administrative apartments (Selamlik
or Mabeyn-i Hümayun), Ceremonial Hall (Muayede Salonu), and Imperial Harem
(Harem-i Hümayun).
The
first and the second sections were used for state business, but the third
section, The Harem (The Harem-i Hümayun) , was available only for women
and for the Sultans family. In this section are the personal apartments
of the Sultans Family. In the harem section is also located the Atatürk’s room,
decorated with French style furniture. Many valuable porcelain vases and
wonderful paintings signed by Rudolph Ernst are located there.
Besides
the main palace, there are several other
buildings in the complex such as imperial kitchens, Crown Prince rooms (Veliaht Dairesi),
barracks, stables, pharmacy, flour mill, aviary (Kusluk), glass manufactory,
foundry, plant house (Fidelik), greenhouse, carpet workshop,
clock tower, etc. Some of the smaller buildings were destroyed or demolished
during the years. There are two monumental gates giving access to the main
garden (but only one is open today) of the administrative part; Treasury Gate
(Hazine Kapisi) and Imperial Gate (Saltanat Kapisi).
Dolmabahçe
palace is extensively decorated with gold and crystal. Fourteen tonnes of gold
were used to gild the ceilings. The world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier is
in the Ceremonial Hall. The chandelier was assumed to be a gift from Queen
Victoria, however in 2006 the receipt was found showing it was paid for in
full. It has 750 lamps and weighs 4.5 tonnes. Dolmabahçe has the largest
collection of Bohemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world. The famous Crystal Staircase has the
shape of a double horseshoe and
is built of Baccarat crystal, brass and mahogany.
