Beylerbeyi Palace

Lonely Planet review

On the waterfront across the Bosphorus Bridge is the grand Beylerbeyi Palace. Look for its whimsical marble bathing pavilions on the shore, one was for men, the other for the women of the harem.

Every sultan needed a little place to get away to, and the 30-room Beylerbeyi Palace was the place for Abdül Aziz (r 1861-76). An earlier wooden palace had burned down here, so Abdül Aziz wanted stone and marble. He ordered architect Sarkis Balyan, brother of Nikoğos, architect of Dolmabahçe, to get to work. Balyan came up with a building that delighted the many foreign dignitaries who visited, including Empress Eugénie of France; Nasruddin, shah of Persia; and Nicholas, grand duke of Russia. The palace's last imperial 'guest' was the former sultan, Abdül Hamit II, who was brought here to spend the remainder of his life (1913-18) under house arrest. He had the dubious pleasure of gazing across the Bosphorus and watching the empire he had ruled for over 30 years crumble before his eyes.

A visit to Beylerbeyi is an attractive alternative to visiting the grander but much more crowded Dolmabahçe. The compulsory guided tour whips you past room after room of Bohemian crystal chandeliers, French (Sèvres) and Ming vases and sumptuous carpets. There's a grand selamlik and a small but opulent harem. Highlights include the music room, with its inlaid walnut walls; a sitting room with parquet floors and walls inlayed with ebony and wood; and a dining room with chairs covered in gazelle skin. After the tour you can enjoy a glass of tea in the pretty garden café.

The palace is a few kilometres north of Üsküdar. Catch bus No 15A or a dolmuş north along the shore road from Üsküdar's main square, and get out at the Çayırbaşı stop, just north of Beylerbeyi and the Asian pylons of the Bosphorus Bridge. The trip takes 15 minutes.