Dolmabahçe Palace ( ) is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922.

History

thumb|left|140px|[[Abdülmecid I]]

Dolmabahçe Palace was ordered by the empire's 31st sultan, Abdülmecid I, and built between the years 1843 and 1853. Previously, the sultan and his family had lived at the Topkapı Palace, but as the medieval 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 near the site of the former Beşiktaş Sahil Palace, which was demolished. Hacı Said Ağa was responsible for the construction works, while the project was realized by architects Garabet Balyan, his son Nigoğayos Balyan and Evanis Kalfa (members of the Armenian Balyan family of Ottoman court architects).

thumb|right|Façade of the Selamlık

, the construction cost the equivalent of ca. US$3 billion: five million Ottoman lira, or 35 tonnes of gold. This sum corresponded to approximately a quarter of the yearly tax revenue. The construction was financed through debasement, by massive issue of paper money, as well as by foreign loans. The huge expenses placed an enormous burden on the state purse and 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 the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (OPDA) for financial control over the "sick man of Europe" by the European powers.

The palace was home to six sultans from 1853, when it was first inhabited, up until the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924: The last royal to live here was Caliph Abdülmecid II. A law that took effect on March 3, 1924 transferred ownership of the palace to the national heritage of the new Turkish Republic. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, used the palace as a presidential residence during the summers and enacted some of his most important works here. Atatürk spent the last days of his medical treatment in this palace, where he died on November 10, 1938.

Today, the palace is managed by Milli Saraylar Daire Başkanlığı (Directorate of National Palaces) responsible to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Location

The site of Dolmabahçe was originally a bay on the Bosporus which was used for the anchorage of the Ottoman fleet. The area was reclaimed gradually during the 18th century to become an imperial garden, much appreciated by the Ottoman sultans; it is from this garden that the name Dolmabahçe comes from dolma "filled (in)" and bahçe "garden" in Persian. Various small summer palaces and wooden pavilions were constructed here during the 18th and 19th centuries, ultimately forming the Beşiktaş Waterfront Palace complex. The area of 110,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> is confined by Bosporus on the east side, while a steep precipice bounds it on the west side, such that after the building of the new monoblock Dolmabahçe Palace a relatively limited space has remained for a garden complex which would normally surround such a palace.

Design and layout

thumb|left|upright|The Ceremonial Hall with the world's largest crystal chandelier, previously believed to have been a gift from [[Queen Victoria.]]

Dolmabahçe is the largest palace in Turkey. It has an area of , and contains 285 rooms, 46 halls, six hammams, and 68 toilets. Over 100&nbsp;kg of gold was used to decorate the palace, this weight today costs US$6 million.

The world's largest crystal chandelier is in the Ceremonial Hall. It has 750 lamps and weighs 4.5 tonnes. The chandelier was originally assumed to have been a gift from Queen Victoria; in 2006, however, a receipt was discovered showing it had been paid for in full by the sultan.

Dolmabahçe has the most extensive 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.

Expensive stones such as Marmara Island (Proconnesian) marble, Egyptian alabaster (calcite, also known as onyx-marble), and porphyry from Pergamon were used for the decoration.

The palace includes a large number of Hereke palace carpets made by the Hereke Imperial Factory. The Hereke carpet featured in the main hall happens to be the largest Hereke rug The collection also includes paintings by Gustave Boulanger, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Eugène Fromentin, Stanisław Chlebowski, Félix Ziem, Karl Joseph Kuwasseg, Fausto Zonaro, Théo van Rysselberghe and Alexander Sandor Svoboda. There are also paintings by Turkish painters such as Osman Hamdi Bey, Halil Pasha and Osman Nuri Pasha in this art museum.

From the very beginning, the palace's equipment implemented the highest technical standards. Gas lighting and water-closets were imported from Great Britain, whereas other palaces in continental Europe were still lacking these features at that time. Later, electricity, a central heating system and an elevator were installed.

Rooms

thumb|Staircases of the palace

thumb|The Pink Hall

Medhal (Main Entrance) Hall

thumb|right|The [[tughra of Abdülmecid I]]

A visit to the Dolmabahçe Palace begins at the Medhal Hall. Rooms leading off the Medhal are towards the sea and the land. The rooms facing the sea were used by the leading officials, the grand vizier, and the other state ministers. Rooms facing the mainland were used by various administrators of the palace and the state, such as the Palace Marshal, the Shaykh al-Islām (Şeyhülislam), and members of the General Assembly.

Guests would first wait in this hall and then would be led inside at the proper time by a palace protocol officer. On entering the Medhal, one sees Boulle tables on both sides of the room, which bear the tughra of Sultan Abdülmecid on top. The royal monogram of the sultan is also on the fireplace. The English chandelier hanging in the middle of this room has sixty arms. The Hereke fabrics used as upholstery for the furniture and as draperies are in the royal shade of red.

The secretariat's rooms

thumb|[[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|Atatürk's deathbed]]

The second room after the Medhal to the right is the Clerk's Hall, also referred to as the Tiled Room. The largest painting in the palace collection, a depiction of the Surre Procession by Stefano Ussi, hangs on the left wall of this hall. Surre was used to refer to the caravans which travelled from Istanbul to Mecca during the religious month of Recep, bearing the monetary aid used to support the maintenance and the decoration of the Kaaba and to provide financial assistance to the local population of Hejaz.

On the wall to the right is a painting signed by Rudolf Ernst depicting the fire at the Paris Municipal Theater and another painting of a Dutch Village Girl by Delandre. Decorated with French style furniture, this room also contains very valuable porcelain vases.

Atatürk's room

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk spent the last days of his life in the palace as his health deteriorated. He died at 9:05 A.M. on November 10, 1938, in a bedroom located in the former harem area of the palace. All the clocks in the palace were stopped and set to 9:05 after his death. The clocks outside of his room now are set to the actual time in Turkey, but the clock in the room in which he died still points to 9:05.

Harem

thumb|Blue Hall in Harem section of the palace

The harem was a traditional feature of many Middle Eastern architectural structures throughout history. The point of Abdulmecid's construction of the harem was to ensure there were separate quarters built for the royal family and their leisure. It was common practice for the sultan's concubines to reside within the harem. Rooms meant to house and educate the children of the sultan, as well as the sultan's living quarters, are included in what would be considered the harem.

Sultans had previously restricted their wives and concubines to the harem from public spaces. Abdulmecid unprecedentedly allowed them to leave the palace to go to shops and bazaars under supervision.

Gates

Gate of the Sultan

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="5">

File:Sultan%27s_Gate_of_Dolmabahçe_Palace.jpg|Exterior façade of the Gate of the Sultan (Saltanat Kapısı) on Dolmabahçe Avenue. The columns of the gate are in a formation of 2-1-1-2.

File:Treasury_Gate,_Dolmabahçe_Palace,_Istanbul,_Turkey_001.jpg|Interior façade of the Gate of the Sultan (Saltanat Kapısı). The columns are in a formation of 2-1-1-2.

</gallery>

Gate of the Treasury

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="5">

File:DolmabahceMainGate.JPG|Exterior façade of the Gate of the Treasury (Hazine-i Hassa Kapısı) near Dolmabahçe Clock Tower. The columns of the exterior façade of the gate are in a formation of 1-2-2-1.

File:Dolmabahçe Sarayı, Dolmabahçe-Palast, Palast der vollen Gärten - panoramio (1).jpg|Interior façade of the Gate of the Treasury (Hazine-i Hassa Kapısı) near Dolmabahçe Clock Tower, which is seen in the background, outside the walls, at left.

File:Dolmabahçe_Palace,_Istanbul_cropped.jpg|Exterior façade of the Gate of the Treasury after the restoration work

</gallery>

Gate to the Bosporus

<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="5">

File:Dolmabahce Palacemm.jpg|Exterior view of the Gate to the Bosporus

File:Dolmabahçe Palace 2007.jpg|Exterior view of the Gate to the Bosporus

File:Gate to the Bosporus at Dolmabahçe Palace.jpg|Interior view of the Gate to the Bosporus

</gallery>

Adjacent buildings

thumb|[[Dolmabahçe Clock Tower near the Bosporus shoreline, with the Gate of the Treasury seen in the background.]]

A number of further residential buildings are located near the palace including the palace of the Crown Prince (Veliaht Dairesi), the quarters of the gentlemen-in-waiting (Musahiban Dairesi), the dormitories of the servants (Agavat Dairesi, Bendegan Dairesi) and of the guards (Baltacılar Dairesi), the quarters of the Chief Eunuch (Kızlarağası Dairesi). Further buildings include imperial kitchens (Matbah-i Amire), stables, an aviary (Kusluk), a plant nursery (Fidelik), a flour mill, a greenhouse (Sera), a Hereke carpet workshop (Hereke dökümhanesi), a glass manufactory, a foundry, a pharmacy etc.thumb|Interior of the [[Dolmabahçe Mosque|left]]A baroque style mosque designed by Garabet Balyan was built near the palace in 1853–1855. It was commissioned by queen mother Bezm-i Âlem Valide Sultan. Since 1948 the building housed the Naval Museum, but the museum was moved to another location in 1960 after the coup d'état of May, 27th. In 1967, the mosque was returned for worship.

A clock tower (Dolmabahçe Saat Kulesi) was erected in front of the Imperial Gate (Saltanat Kapisi) on a square along the European waterfront of Bosporus next to the mosque. The tower was ordered by Sultan Abdülhamid II and designed by the court architect Sarkis Balyan between 1890 and 1895. Its clock was manufactured by the French clockmaker house of Jean-Paul Garnier, and installed by the court clock master Johann Mayer.

See also

  • List of Baroque residences

Literature

thumb|The sultan's library

  • İskender Pala. The Jewel on the Bosphorus; Dolmabahçe Palace. TBMM Milli Saraylar Yayınları, Istanbul, 2006.
  • İhsan Yücel, Sema Öner, F. Yaşar Yılmaz, Cengiz Göncü, Hakan Gülsün. Dolmabahçe Palace. TBMM Milli Saraylar Yayınları, Istanbul, 2005.
  • İpek Fitöz. European Lights In Dolmabahçe Palace. TBMM Milli Saraylar Yayınları, Istanbul, 2007.

References

  • National Palaces in Turkey official site