The Sultan's New House
For nearly four centuries the Ottoman sultan
and his very large family had
lived in the medieval tiled confines
of Topkapı
Palace on Seraglio Point,
on the site of the acropolis
of Byzantium.
In the early 19th century, Sultan
Mahmud II (1808-1839)
enjoyed living in a large wooden
palace in the "filled
garden" (dolma bahçe) of
a small valley on the shores
of the Bosphorus.
Mahmut's son Sultan
Abdülmecid (1839-1861),
perhaps influenced by his father's
preference and by pleasant
youthful years at Dolmabahçe decided
to live here permanently. He
commissioned the imperial architects
of the Balyan family
to tear down the old wooden
structure and build a huge,
sumptuous new palace on the
spot.
It didn't matter to the sultan
that he really didn't have the
money to do this. He was the
sultan, after all.
When it was finished, the sultan
abandoned Topkapı and
moved his harem to Dolmabahçe.
The palace has a façade nearly
a quarter mile (400 meters) long, 285
rooms and 43 large
salons. The floors are covered
in half a hectare (over an
acre) of silk and wool Hereke carpets.
The Bohemian crystal chandelier
in the Throne Room,
the world's largest,
weighs 4-1/2 tons (4000 kilos)
and has 750 lights.
Not bad for a guy who had trouble
paying his mortgage.... |
