Dolmabahce Palace



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Dolmabahce Palace, a shore palace built by the brothers Nikagos and Karabet Balyan in 1853 for the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid II, was the most monumental work of the time. Its construction lasted for 11 years costing five million Ottoman gold pieces, the equivalent of 35 tonnes of gold. The Palace was the official residence of several Ottoman Sultans in the 19th and early 20th centuries. With the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Dolmabahce Palace remained empty till Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of turkey, took up residence there. Ataturk stayed in the palace between 1 July 1927 and 10 November 1938. His bed-chamber where he died in 10 November 1938 was in the Harem section. Today Dolmabahce is a museum under the auspices of the Department of National Palaces of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.


Crimson Hall

Ambassadorial Hall

 

 

www.virtualistanbul.com

 

Dolmabahce Palace

Dolmabahce, Besiktas

Telephone: 90-212-2369000

Open daily except Mondays and Thursdays, 09:30-16:00

To take photos in the palace you have to pay an extra 5.000.000 TL.
To take video in the palace you have to pay an extra 10.000.000 TL.

 

 
Dolmabahce marks the beginning of the period in which Ottoman traditional architectural style is ignored and more and more western patterns are used for the new palaces. The palace which consists of 285 rooms , 46 halls, four grand salons, six galleries and six baths is divided into two sections: the Ceremonial Section - where the sultan would receive distinguished guests from all over the world and the Harem - where the Sultan's wife, mother and concubines lived.
  


The Ceremonial Section reached by a vast hall includes the Grand Vizier's Room and the Sheik-ul Islam's Room. The Crystal Stairway winds up to the upper floor which encompasses the Crystal Stairway Hall, the Ambassador's Hall, the Porphyry Room, the Mecid Efendi Library and the Panaroma Room. The Ceremonial Hall covers an area of 1800 square meters.The hall is adorned by the largest candelier in the world that weighs 4.5 tons bearing 750 crystals.

Exquisite artifacts such as Hereke and Isparta carpets specially woven for Dolmabahce, porcelain vases, skillfully crafted chairs, tables, desks and bookcases, priceless 600 paintings from the best masters such as Aivazovsky and Zonaro, grand pianos, various antique clocks and many more curiosities adorn Dolmabahce Palace.

Ataturk died in Dolmabahce at 9:05 am on 10 November 1938. All the clocks in the palace are stopped at this time.

The Crimson Room

The Mainstaircase
The architect of Dolmabahce Palace is Garabed Balian, the best known member in a long line of Armenian architects, nine of whom served under six sultans. The original Balian, Bali Kalfa, came from the Kayseri region of Anatolia. The earlier Balian architects studied European forms and styles through drawings brought from Europe. Later on in 1840s and 1850s Garabed Balian sent his sons to Europe, where Nigogos, Agop, Sarkis studied architecture in a school in Paris. The knowledge brought back by the sons was first applied by their father in the construction of the Dolmabahce Palace.