Beylerbeyi Palace in istanbul
Beylerbeyi Palace was built by Abdulaziz between 1861-1865. The architect was Sergis Balyan. An earlier timber palace built by Mahmut II had previously occupied the site. The terraced grounds of the present palace, including a large pool and an underground tunnel originally belonged to the earlier building. Built as a summer palace, the exterior of the building is Neoclassical in style. The facade is marble and sandstone, the walls are brick infilled. The palace has two sections, Selamlyk and Harem, arranged on two floors. Two splendid marble stair cases give access to each section independently. The interior decoration and furnishings bear the features of what we may call typical 19. century Ottoman Court style.
The palace contains 6 halls and 24 rooms. The room with a pool on the ground floor and Blue room on the first floor, with their flanking chambers constitute the men’s quarters. The Harem ball and rooms are smaller in scale. Since this was a summer palace, there is no central heating system, nor are there any chimneys. Apart from room no. 18, which has a parquet-covered floor, all the rooms are floored with rush matting. Three of the rooms have marquetry panelling (rooms no. 18, 21 and 26). The other rooms and halls are either polychrome painted or stucco plastered. The columns of the Blue Room are stuccoed over timber, the stucco painted to resemble marble in cobalt blue. The ceilings are decorated in most unusual forms. Geometrical patterns are noticable together with coloured floral bouquets in medallions. Amidst these decorative devices are panels containing nautical paintings. The patron of the palace, Abdülaziz, was a patron of the navy. Under his guidance the Ottoman fleet became second only to the British fleet. This accounts for the various paintings of ships on the ceilings. It appears that the sultan, also a keen painter, drew sketches for the ceiling decorations himself. It is known that the painter Chelebowsky was brought to the palace to execute the painted ceilings. Some inscriptions are noticable as decorative elements in some of the rooms and halls. Those in the Blue Room are in gilded “talik” over a blue ground. They reaffirm the justice of the sultan, and the importance of justice in the running of the affairs of state. They also include supplications, words of praise and the necessary qualities for a good government. Such inscriptions are also to be found on the ceilings of other rooms, namely nos. 19, 23 and 28, some of which are verses and prayers from the Kor’an. Much of the furniture in the palace is European.
Gilded suites of chairs amidst gilded cornices, mirrors and consoles are prevelant features. These are French in origin. The curtains and upholstery materials are Hereke silks. Most of the rugs were also from Hereke. Two rooms (nos. 17 and 27) contain European Göblen rugs. Some rooms contain inlayed furniture in Anglo-Arab style. Polychrome Bohemia crystal chandeliers suspended from the ceiling of many rooms lend the palace an entirely different character. Apart from these, vases of Far Eastern. Chinese and Japanese; and European, Sevres and Saxonian origin, may be seen together with Yyldyz ware from the porcelain factory founded in the reign of Abdulhamid. A number of notable artists, both local and foreign, worked in the Yildiz porcelain factory, producing rare vases and utility ware. Many of the clocks in the palace, of various sizes, were French. One of the more noticable time pieces is a table clock in the Blue Room, a boulle silver clock weighing 60 kgs. There are now three bathrooms in the palace, although when it was built there was only one, which was contained within the imperial suite of sultan Abdülaziz, in room no. 24. The two later additions were from the period of Abdulhamit. During the Republic these were modernised and additional facilities added. A number of important statesmen have visited the palace since it was built. Among the most popular guest was the French empress Eugenie. During a visit to sultan Abdülaziz in 1869, she stayed in Beylerbeyi palace, in the imperial suite, and was given a Turkish bath by a woman brought in from the Beylerbeyi baths. The palaces longest resident was the hapless Abdülhamit II who was brought back from exile in Thessalonica to live here in 1912. The deposed sultan occupied suite nos. 8 and 9, to the left of the entrance to the Harem. The sultan, known to be extremely fussy, had a bathroom added to the suite. He died in 1918 in bedroom no.8. His bedroom suite, a Rococco lacquer suite are still to be seen there. In addition the desk, armchair, library and other effects of the sultan can be seen upstairs in room no. 28. A dining suite with chamois- upholstered chairs in the dining rooms (nos. 12 and 21) were brought to Beylerbeyi from Yyldyz by that sultan. They are Viennese Arabesque in style. The jetty of Beylerbeyi is embellished with two shore pavilions. In the upper terrace gardens are other pavilions, namely the Mermer and Sary pavilions, built during the reign of Mahmut II and the Ahir Pavilion, which is contemporary with the palace and was built during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz. These buildings are now open to the public. The terraced grounds originally covered an area of 160,000 m2 and included hunting grounds, a zoo, conservatories and for mal gardens of note containing plants and trees from all over the world. The grounds were eventually honed down to allow for the building of roads and such buildings as schools, and today they are only half their original area.