The Beylerbeyi palace is situated in Istanbul at the Asian side of Bosphorus. It was built in the 1860s and it was a residential house of the ottomans in summers. It can be found near the north of the Bosphorus Bridge. It took 3 years for the architectures to complete this historic Palace. It consists of a garden, pavilion and the main palace.
History:
Sultan Abdulaziz commissioned Beylerbeyi Palace and it was built between 1860 and 1864. It was designed to comfort the heads of the state who visited Istanbul in summers. Empress Eugenie of France visited the Palace in 1869 and she was so delighted by the outlook of the Palace that she copied the windows for her Bedroom in Tuileries Palace, in Paris. This palace was also visited by Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Sultan Abdul Hameed II remained captivated in this palace after his deposition in 1912 until his death in 1918.
Architectural Design:
Sarkis Balyan and Hagop Balyan were the main architects of this Palace. They designed it in the Second Empire style of the Ottomans. The palace looks very attractive from Bosphorus, from there its two bathing pavilions can be very well observed. One pavilion is designed for women only and the other is designed for men. The palace houses many attractive rooms in it; one of them is the reception hall. It has a pool and a fountain attached with it. Running water was a pleasant feature of this palace and its sound and cooling effect were quite famous. The carpets used in the Palace are from Hereke and Egyptian matting is insulated on the floor. The staircases in the palace are round in structure. Many of the other features of this Palace couldn’t survive for long, for instance its kitchen, music pavilion, the deer house, the lion house and the dove cote are the examples of the things which couldn’t persist in the Palace.