Dolmabahce Palace
The palace of Dolmabahçe was built on an infilled section of the European shore of the Bosphorus, which had been a busy harbour at the beginning of the 17 century, much utilised by the fleet, especially for naval camping ceremonies. It was subsequently filled in with tons of rock and rubble to create, after years of work, a royal park for Ahmet I. Later a series of pavilions and shore-side khiosks were built in these royal grounds.
The orginal palace was in fact, an elaborate waterfront complex consisting mainly of povilions for various specialised purposes, including a divanhane, or state coincil chamber. The Ottoman Court removed to this palace under Mahmut II, who began to find the old palace on Sergalio Point - Toplapı Palace too restricting and outmoded. Abdulhamit I also lived in the new palace on the Bosphorus for a time bwfore having it demoslished.
The present Dolmabahçe Palace was begin in 1843 on the same site. The architect was Karabet Balyan. Althoughit was said to be finished in 1854, the sultan did not take up residence there until two years later, in 1856.
This highly ornamental palace consisted of a grand imperial state room flanked by seperate wings containing the state rooms and royal apartments in one the selamlik, and the harem in the other. It covers an area of 248 metres in length and fronting it is a royal jetty 600 metres in length. The dowager sultan’s apartments were in a additional wing of the harem, to which it was linked by the crown prince’s chambers.
The interior layout is comparatively simple, a row of rooms leading onto a series of large salons. Each bedroom in the harem opened onto a central reception chamber in the same fashion. Annexes to the palace stretched along the shore as far as Beşiktaş, and included the Dolmabahçe mosque, built by the mother of sultan Abdulmecit II, and the clock tower built by Abdülhamit II, which stand before the entrance to the palace grounds the Treasury gate and within the grounds are stables, carriage houses, the privy treasury strong-room, the glass pavilion, apartment of the harem chief eunuch, chambers of the white eunuchs, and among others, a pastry kitchen and pharmacy. Beside the crown princes apartments was later constructed a princes harem, and there was also a court school and soup-kitchen and the barracks of the royal halberdiers, which stretched along the coast from Kabataş to Beşiktaş. May of these buildings have since been destroyed or converted for use as state administrative offices. One other edifice said to have been built at the time but later destroyed by fire was a royal theatre.
The grand entrance potral of the palace faces the clock tower and the Dolmabahçe mosque. It is an elaborate gateway flanked by towers, with a tunnel, vaulted perch. A second, or royal portal, also flanked by two towers is on the land walls of the palace. The royal gate is particularly ornamented with devices from the rococo repertoire of late 19 century Istanbul, flanked by paired pillars with composite capitals, and embellished with giirland, shell, curved stem, rosettes, egg and dart and pearl motifs combined with rococo shields, sun-ray medallions and floral bouquest. Above the treasury gate is inscribed the monogram-tughra of Abdulmecit II, dated 1853, under which is an inscription by the poet Ziyver, dated 1856, and the royal gate is also surmounted by the sultan’s tughra. Other gates were known as the doweger sultan’s gate, Mefruşat gate and the kitchen gates. There were also several entrances on the waterfront.
In accordance with Ottoman custom, the palace was surrounded by high walls, but the garden is laid out on the flat, which is quite a departure from the terraced gardens preferred by the Ottomans, not surprisingly as the landcape gardeners responsible for its lay-out were German.
Marble from the islands of the Marmara was used in the construction of the palace, which although decorated in the rococco-imperial style typical of late 19 century Istanbul, nevertheless retains some traces of classical Ottoman architectural concepts in its lay-out and design. Basically, it was planned around a series of salons or sofas, rather like a cluster of typical Turkish houses on an imperial scale.
The facades were decorated in that eclectic fashion which incorporated both baroque elements and neo-classical forms, and each storey is articulated with columns and pediments and with marble balustrades highly ornamented in this way, but arranged symmetrically in the neo-classical fashion. Alabaster, marble and porphyry were used on the interior, said to have been designed by french and Italian masters. Furnishings and decoration were the work of the French decorator Sechan, who also designed the Paris Opera, and one may sense traces of the decorative aesthetic behind French palaces in the richly carved and gilded relief doors and window-frames of balsam and mohogany, and in the fresco painted ceilings. The latter were the focus for ornamentation, and were fresco-painted over a coffered plaster base. Nature-morte studies, scenic views or figural compositions were also applied to canvas stretched over to make a false ceiling, as in the dowager sultan’s apartment. The grand State room is domed, and painted over lead, and gilded wood is utilised for the decoration of the Selamlik dining room. Stone carving is confined, indoors, to the bath-houses. Murals are also an integral part of the decorations. The palace has a total of 285 rooms, 43 large salons, six balconies and six bath-houses on three storeys. A total of 4,455 square metres of hand-woven rugs cover the floors of these rooms and salons, whichare also ornamented with Bohemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers and fire-places, 36 chandeliers in all, the greatest of which is the four-and-a-half ton giant chandelier presented to the sultan by Queen Victoria, and now hanging in the State Room, said to be the largest in the world.
Among the treasures of the palace are paintings by noted artists, including Zonaro, Fromentin and Aivazowski, over 280 Chinese, Japanese, European and Turkish porcelains, 156 historic clocks, some of great elegance, over 500 silver and crystal candleabras, 11 silver braziers, crystal and silver table ware and other artefacts in the noble metals.
The crystal staircase leading from the state apartments to the upper floor are also worth seeing. There are a total of seven other staircases, and an elevator added during the period residence of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish republic, who also died here.
Originally, the palace was heated in the traditional Ottoman manner with braziers and open fireplaces, but these were replaced by closed faience stoves after the reign of Abdulhamit, and central heating and electricity were installed during the reign of Sultan Reşat V. Even these modern additions were given a grand appearance by their ornamentation with gold leaf.
The fine inlayed parquet floors are particulary notable, as they are most varied and unusual, especially those in the imperial reception rooms.
Between the years 1877 to 1909. Abdulhamit II abandoned the palace in preference for the palace of Yıldız, on the nearby slopes of Yıldız, when Dolmabahçe fell somewhat into ruin. His successor Reşat Mehmet V had it restored by the architect Vedat, and returned to the shore palace after his succession in 1909, remaining there until 1918. His successor Vahideddin remained there for some time before removing to Yıldız, and sultan Abdulmecid moved back from Yıldız after being proclaimed the Caliph of Islam in 1922, taking with hime the vauable royal library, and remained there until 1922, when he was deposed by the revolution which installed a republic and declared the palace to be the property of the state.
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