| The Beylerbeyi palace was built between 1861-1865 by Sultan Abdulaziz and is located in the Asian side of Istanbul on the eastern shore of the
Bosphorus. It was the Sultans' summer palace. There is no heating in the palace and the floor was covered with straw bought specially from Egypt. Very illustrious and distinguished persons were guests of the Sultan, among them the French Emperor Eugenie, Nasruddin the Shah of Persia and the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia. Surrounding the palace there was an area of 160,000 square meters comprising a hunting area, a zoo and a garden with different flora from all over the world. |
Flash photography was not allowed inside the palace and many
of the rooms were quite dark. I have used Adobe Photoshop to enhance the images
so that you can see the details, but it does make many photos grainy.
The "royal toilet"
The view of the Bosphorus, even from the bath-room, is beautiful
This area is in the "harem" (forbidden) section of the palace, which
meant that is was for the private use of the royal family and not open to
guests. One can only imagine how beautiful it looked when filled with water and
the fountains working in the middle of the pool
The royal throne has three crescents, one for each continent (Europe, Asia
and Africa) that the Ottoman empire covered
I was especially impressed by the beautiful chandeliers.
This view from the front garden of the palace demonstrates how close the palace
is located to the waters of the Bosphorus. I can imagine how pleasant it must be
for the palace guests to stroll out and enjoy the view of ships sailing by on
the Bosphorus.
