BEYLERBEYI | The Royal Beauty of Beylerbeyi Palace.   

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and uniquely located between two continents; the Europe and Asia and known to be the 23rd of the worlds’ principal agglomerations list.

In between the partly of Istanbul gushes the Bosporus Strait which represents the Asian city nearest Europe and the European city adjoining to Asia.

Istanbul is also the leading haven whose value indicates the age-old trade routes passing through this Bosporus. During its rich history, the city continues to be the center of the Turkey’s economy. Nowadays with over 15,000 foreign companies, sky scrapers, large trade centers, luxurious shopping malls and high education level of the working population, Istanbul become the genuine strength of Turkey’s character.

Since Turkey remains to be the owner of many positive features in terms of history and culture, they have established their tag as the international tourism centre as well. In recent years, the city, by good value of its accommodation and convention facilities, also head toward the top as a centre of convention tourism.

One of these finest attractions that pull many tourists towards the beautiful Istanbul is the Beylerbeyi Palace. The palace has a rectangular plan with the long side which faces the water and contains six halls and twenty-four rooms on two floors elevated on a service basement. The six halls, three on each floor, are paralleled along the longitudinal alignment from southwest to northeast. If there will be a State functions, it is usually held in the state apartments entered from the southwest, while the two halls to the northeast with their surrounding rooms comprise the Harem, entered from the opposing end of the palace. Both sections are headed by cool gardens with pine, cherry-leaf beech, and large oval pools that are surrounded by magnolia trees. A tall wall is used to divide the two gardens behind the palace although the uniform and proportioned look has been maintained for the waterfront.

The palace has round cascading steps in front of the Mabeyn that leads into the entrance hall. This has a double set of stairs at its rear end that provide entrance to the reception hall above. Both halls are lit with iwans that faces the Mabeyn gardens to the southwest. The Hall with Mother-of-Pearl or the reception hall is connected with an audience room including premium wood paneling on the seaside and a dining room on the landward side.

If you walk through the left of the Mabeyn entrance hall, you will find the Havuzlu Salon, which means large oval pool at its center. As you look above the Hall with Pool and Blue Hall, you can see the center of the building, which links the mabeyn with harem. They both face the sea in front and the land wall behind. The two halls are attached by a double staircase with a skylight on the Harem side. The Blue Hall, which is also known as the Ceremonial Hall, separates the central space from its iwans and aisles. Its roof is lifted on sixteen arched windows that light up the hall from above. You will see naval scenes painted on the ceilings of the Hall with Pool and including its corner rooms, as well as some rooms adjoining the Blue Hall, which features the Ottoman ships or the Admiral Room. As you visit the ground floor, you will find furniture’s based on the naval theme. Most of the furniture used in the palace was brought from Europe, including chandeliers with precious stones from Bohemia and vases from Sèvres. An extensive set of Chinese and Japanese vases is also displayed which adds glamour to the palace.

The interior decoration is a reflection of nineteenth century Ottoman eclecticism. These decorations are an inspired by amalgam of Western neo-classical styles and traditional Ottoman elements such as the muqarnas, interlaced arabesques, Bursa arch and calligraphic forms. The rough and carpeted floors are covered with straw mats from Egypt. The palace was illuminated by gasworks whereas no conditions were made to heat up during the colder months.

These are just some of the royal beauties you will discover in Beylerbeyi Palace, so why not cut loose from your busy schedules and spend time seeing these beauties and wonders. Witness the richness of Istanbul’s grandiose history by visiting the palace and have a memorable getaway!