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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.
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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!
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