Dolmabahçe Palace

Dolmabahçe Palace (Turkish: Dolmabahçe Sarayı,IPA: [doɫmabahˈtʃe saɾaˈjɯ]) located in the Beşiktaş dis-trict of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coastline of theBosphorus strait, served as the main administrative centerof the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922, apart from a22-year interval (1887–1909) in which Yıldız Palace wasused.

1 Location

Close-up view of the palace from the Bosphorus

The site of Dolmabahçe was originally a bay on theBosphorus which was used for the anchorage of the Ot-toman fleet. The area was reclaimed gradually during the18th century to become an imperial garden, much appre-ciated by the Ottoman sultans; it is from this garden thatthe nameDolmabahçe (Filled-in Garden) comes from theTurkish dolmameaning “filled” and bahçemeaning “gar-den.” Various small summer palaces and wooden pavil-ions were built here during the 18th and 19th centuriesultimately forming a palace complex named BeşiktaşWa-terfront Palace. The area of 110,000 m² is confined byBosphorus on the east side, while a steep precipice boundsit on the west side, such that after the building of thenew 45,000 m² monoblock Dolmabahçe Palace a rela-tively limited space has remained for a garden complexwhich would normally surround such a palace.[1][2]

2 History

Dolmabahçe Palace was ordered by the Empire’s 31stSultan, Abdülmecid I, and built between the years 1843and 1856. Previously, the Sultan and his family had lived

Abdülmecid I

Facade of the Selamlık

at the Topkapı Palace, but as the medieval Topkapı waslacking in contemporary style, luxury, and comfort, ascompared to the palaces of the European monarchs, Ab-dülmecid decided to build a new modern palace near thesite of the former Beşiktaş Palace, which was demol-ished. Hacı Said Ağa was responsible for the construc-tion works, while the project was realized by architectsGarabet Balyan, his son Nigoğayos Balyan and EvanisKalfa (members of the Balyan family of Ottoman courtarchitects).

1

2 4 DÉCOR AND EQUIPMENT

The construction cost five million Ottoman gold lira, or35 tonnes of gold, the equivalent of ca. $1.5 billion intoday’s (2013) values.[3][4] This sum corresponded to ap-proximately a quarter of the yearly tax revenue. Actu-ally, the construction was financed through debasement,by massive issue of paper money, as well as by foreignloans. The huge expenses placed an enormous burdenon the state purse and contributed to the deteriorating fi-nancial situation of the Ottoman Empire which eventuallyslid into state bankruptcy with the subsequent establish-ment of financial control over the "sick man of Europe"by European powers.Dolmabahçe Palace was home to six Sultans from 1856,when it was first inhabited, up until the abolition of theCaliphate in 1924: The last royal to live here was CaliphAbdülmecid Efendi. A law that went into effect onMarch3, 1924 transferred the ownership of the palace to the na-tional heritage of the new Turkish Republic. Mustafa Ke-mal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Repub-lic of Turkey, used the palace as a presidential residenceduring the summers and enacted some of his most impor-tant works here. Atatürk spent the last days of his medicaltreatment in this palace, where he died on November 10,1938.Today, the palace is managed by Milli Saraylar DaireBaşkanlığı (Directorate of National Palaces) responsibleto the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The only wayto see the interior of Dolmabahçe is with a guided tour.

3 Design and layout

Dolmabahçe is the largest palace in Turkey. It has an areaof 45,000 m2 (11.1 acres), and contains 285 rooms, 46halls, 6 baths (hamam) and 68 toilets.[1][2]

The design contains eclectic elements from the Baroque,Rococo and Neoclassical styles, blended with traditionalOttoman architecture to create a new synthesis. Thepalace layout and décor reflect the increasing influenceof European styles and standards on Ottoman culture andart during the Tanzimat period. The exterior, in partic-ular the view from the Bosporus, shows a classical Eu-ropean two-wing arrangement which is divided by a bigavant-corps with two side avant-corps.Functionally, on the other hand, the palace retains ele-ments of traditional Ottoman palace life, and also featuresof traditional Turkish homes. It is strictly separated struc-turally in a southern wing (Mabeyn-i Hümâyûn, or Se-lamlık, the quarters reserved for the men) which containsthe public representation rooms, and a northern wing(Harem-i Hümâyûn, the Harem) serving as the privateresidential area for the Sultan and his family. The twofunctional areas are separated by the big Ceremonial Hall(Muayede Salonu) with a floor area of 2,000 m2 (22,000sq ft) and a 36m (118 ft) high dome. Since the harem hadto be completely isolated from the outside world, themain

Fountain in the garden

Bayıldım Bahçesi Dolmabahçe Caddesi

Bosphorus1

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3 45

67 8

9

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15

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Floor plan of the palace

entrance for the visitors is located on the narrow south-ern side. There, the representation rooms are arrangedfor receptions of visitors and of foreign diplomats. Theharem area includes eight interconnected apartments forthe wives of the sultan, for his favourites and concubines,and for his mother, each with its own bathroom.

3

Ceremonial Hall with the chandelier gifted by Queen Victoria

Baccarat crystal balusters of the Crystal Staircase

Ambassador’s Hall (Süfera Salonu) with two bearskin rugs

4 Décor and equipment

Whereas the Topkapı has exquisite examples of Izniktiles and Ottoman carving, the Dolmabahçe palace isextensively decorated with gold and crystal. Fourteentonnes of gold in the form of gold leaf were used togild the ceilings.[5] The world’s largest Bohemian crys-tal chandelier is in the Ceremonial Hall. The chandelier,a gift from Queen Victoria, has 750 lamps and weighs

Sultan’s hamam decorated with Egyptian alabaster

4.5 tonnes. Dolmabahçe has the largest collection of Bo-hemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world.The famous Crystal Staircase has the shape of a dou-ble horseshoe and is built of Baccarat crystal, brass andmahogany.Expensive stones such as Marmara (Proconnesian) mar-ble, Egyptian alabaster (calcite, also known as onyx-marble), and Porphyry from Pergamon were used for thedecoration.The palace includes a large number of Hereke palace car-pets made by the Hereke Imperial Factory. Also featuredare 150-year-old bearskin rugs originally presented to theSultan as a gift by Tsar Nicholas I.A collection of 202 oil paintings is on display in thepalace. A highlight of the collection are 23 paint-ings by Ivan Aivazovsky which he created as a courtpainter during his stays in Istanbul.[6] The collectionalso includes paintings by Gustave Boulanger, Jean-LéonGérôme, Eugène Fromentin, Sandor Svoboda, StanisławChlebowski, Félix Ziem, Karl Joseph Kuwasseg, FaustoZonaro, and Théo van Rysselberghe. There are alsopaintings by Turkish painters such as Osman Hamdi Bey,Halil Pasa, Osman Nuri Pasa, Sekrit Dag, and Omer BenMustafa in this art museum.From the very beginning, the palace’s equipment imple-mented the highest technical standards. Gas lighting andwater-closets were imported from Great Britain, whereasthe palaces in continental Europe were still lacking thesefeatures at that time. Later, electricity, a central heatingsystem and an elevator were installed.

5 Rooms

5.1 Medhal (Main Entrance) Hall

A visit to the Dolmabahce Palace begins at the MedhalHall. Rooms leading off the Medhal are towards the seaand the land. The rooms facing the sea were used by the

4 7 ADJACENT BUILDINGS

Blue Hall

Pink Hall

leading Ottoman officials, the Grand Vizier and the otherstate ministers, while the rooms facing the land were usedby various administrators of the palace and the state, suchas the Palace Marshall, Şeyhülislam, and members ofthe House of Representatives (Meclis-i Mebusan) and theSenate (Meclis-i Ayan).Guests would first wait in this hall and then would be ledinside at the proper time by a palace protocol officer. Onentering the Medhal, one sees Boulle tables on both sidesof the room, which bear the monogram of Sultan Ab-dülmecid on top. The royal monogram of the sultan isalso on the fireplace. The English chandelier hanging inthe middle of this room has sixty arms. The Hereke fab-rics used as upholstery for the furniture and as draperiesare in the royal shade of red.

5.2 The secretariat’s rooms

The second room after the Medhal to the right is theClerk’s Hall, also referred to as the Tiled Room. Thelargest painting in the palace collection, a depiction ofthe Surre Procession by Stefano Ussi, hangs on the leftwall of this hall. Surre was used to refer to the caravanswhich travelled from Istanbul to Mecca during the reli-gious month of Recep, bearing the monetary aid used tosupport the maintenance and the decoration of the Kaabaand to provide financial assistance to the local population

of Hejaz.

Atatürk's deathbed

On the wall to the right is a painting signed by RudolfErnst depicting the fire at the Paris Municipal Theaterand another painting of a Dutch Village Girl by Delandre.Decorated with French style furniture, this room alsocontains very valuable porcelain vases.

5.3 Atatürk’s room

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk spent the last days of his life inthe palace as his health deteriorated. He died at 9:05 a.m.on November 10, 1938, in a bedroom, located in the for-mer Harem section of the palace. All the clocks in thepalace were stopped and set to 9:05 after his death. Al-though this has changed recently and the clocks outsideof his room are now set to the actual time in Turkey, theclock in the room where he died is still pointing to 9:05a.m.

6 Gates

• Gate of the Sultan (Saltanat Kapısı)

• Gate of the Treasury (Hazine-i Hassa Kapısı)

• Gate to the Bosphorus

7 Adjacent buildings

A number of further residential buildings are located nearthe palace including the palace of the Crown Prince (Veli-aht Dairesi), the quarters of the gentlemen-in-waiting(Musahiban Dairesi), the dormitories of the servants(Agavat Dairesi, Bendegan Dairesi) and of the guards(Baltacilar Dairesi), the quarters of the Chief Eunuch(Kizlaragasi Dairesi). Further buildings include imperialkitchens (Matbah-i Amire), stables, an aviary (Kusluk), aplant nursery (Fidelik), a flour mill, a greenhouse (Sera),

5

Dolmabahçe Clock Tower

Dolmabahçe Mosque

a Hereke carpet workshop (Hereke dökümhanesi), a glassmanufactory, a foundry, a pharmacy etc.[7][8]

A baroque style mosque designed by Garabet Balyanwas built near the palace in 1853—1855. It was com-missioned by queen mother Bezm-i Âlem Valide Sultan.Since 1948 the building housed the Naval Museum, butthe museum was moved to another location in 1960 afterthe coup d'état of May, 27th. In 1967 the mosque wasreturned for worship.A clock tower (Dolmabahçe Saat Kulesi) was erected infront of the Treasury Gate on a square along the Euro-pean waterfront of Bosphorus next to the mosque. The

tower was ordered by sultan Abdülhamid II and designedby the court architect Sarkis Balyan between 1890 and1895. Its clock was manufactured by the French clock-maker house of Jean-Paul Garnier, and installed by thecourt clock master Johann Mayer.

8 Literature

Sultan’s library

• Yücel, İhsan; Sema Öner (1989). DolmabahçePalace. Istanbul: TBMM National Palaces Trust.ASIN B000GYA5C8.

• Akat, Yücel (1988). The Dolmabahçe Palace. Is-tanbul: Keskin Color. ASIN B000GW7QYA.

• Yücel, İhsan (1995). Dolmabahçe Palace. Istan-bul: TBMMDepartment of National Palaces. ISBN975-7479-42-X.

• Gülersoy, Çelik (1990). Dolmabahçe Palace and itsenvirons. Istanbul: İstanbul Kitaplığı. p. 257. ISBN978-975-7687-03-0.

• Keskin, Naci (1975). The Dolmabahçe Palace. Is-tanbul: Keskin Color. ASIN B000OSH36M.

• Dolmabahçe Palace. Istanbul: Do-Gu Yayınları.1998. ASIN B000E1S49O.

• İskender Pala. The Jewel on the Bosphorus;Dolmabahçe Palace. TBMM Milli Saraylar Yayın-ları, Istanbul, 2006.

• İhsan Yücel, Sema Öner, F. Yaşar Yılmaz, Cen-giz Göncü, Hakan Gülsün. Dolmabahçe Palace.TBMMMilli Saraylar Yayınları, Istanbul, 2005.

• İpek Fitöz. European Lights In Dolmabahçe Palace.TBMMMilli Saraylar Yayınları, Istanbul, 2007.

6 10 EXTERNAL LINKS

9 References[1] Dolmabahçe Palace Museum

[2] Turkish Ministry of Tourism site about DolmabahçePalace

[3] Dolmabahce Palace

[4] Goldgrambars.com

[5] Dolmabahçe Palace, Emporis

[6] Historical Ottoman Palace reopens as museum, Eu-roAsiaNews.com, March 22, 2014

[7] Dolmabahçe Palace, Great Istanbul

[8] Dolmabahçe Sarayi, Archnet

10 External links• Dolmabahçe Palace official site

• National Palaces in Turkey official site

7

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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8 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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