If you get a Bosphorus tour in Istanbul, a building will get your attention surely. This spectacular building reflects of late Ottoman architect magnificence. Let’s learn about Dolmabahçe Palace, located on European Side of the city, more.

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.

A series of imperial köşks (mansions) and kasırs (pavilions) were built here, eventually growing into a palace complex known as Beşiktaş Waterfront Palace.

Beşiktaş Waterfront Palace was demolished in 1843 by Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-1861) on the grounds that it was made of wood and inconvenient, and construction of Dolmabahçe Palace commenced in its place.

Dolmabahçe Palace had a total area of over 110.000 square metres and consisted of sixteen separate sections apart from the palace proper. These included stables, a flour mill, pharmacy, kitchens, aviary, glass manufactory and foundry. Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876-1909) added a clock tower and the Veliahd Dairesi (apartments for the heir apparent), and the Hareket Kiosks in the gardens behind.

The main palace was built by the leading Ottoman architects of the era, Karabet and Nikogos Balyan. It consists of three parts: the Imperial Mabeyn (State Apartments), Muayede Salon (Ceremonial Hall) and the Imperial Harem, where the sultan and his family led their private lives. The Ceremonial Hall placed centrally between the other two sections is where the sultan received statesman and dignitaries on state occasions and religious festivals.

Starting with the move of the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from Topkapi Palace in 1856, until the abolishment of the caliphate in 1924, the Dolmabahçe Palace was home to six sultans. There was however a 20-year interval from 1889 to 1909 in which the Yıldız Palace was used.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, used the palace as a presidential house in the summer and enacted some of his most important works here, e.g. the introduction of the new alphabet. Troubled by health problems, he spent his last years in the palace until he died at 09.05 on November 10, 1938. In his honor, all the clocks in the palace are stopped at that exact time. The room in which he died is part of one of the palace tours.

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