The Beautiful Setting of a Royal Love Affair…

A boat trip up and down the Bosphorus is undoubtedly one of the most important features on every visitor’s itinerary in Istanbul. Whether you take the public transport boats, one of the numerous tourist boats or rent a luxurious yacht to take you along the Asian and European coasts of this beautiful strait, you will marvel at the uniqueness of this special geography all the same. It is sadly true that, much has been ruined by the insatiable greed for money, sacrificing beautiful forest areas to ugly concrete. Nevertheless, the Bosphorus is still resisting this onslaught with its beautiful bays, capes, scenery and its picturesque settlements by the shore that were originally faraway villages from the city centre.

The fascinating historical wooden mansions (called yalı in Turkish) and the palaces along the coasts of the Bosphorus are maybe the most exclusive elements of this natural wonder. Gliding over the water, you will see them on both sides with their elegant architectures. Most of these mansions were initially summer residences but later became inhabited all year round.

Sailing up the Bosphorus towards the Black Sea, on the Asian coast, under the first bridge, there is a beautiful palace that catches the eye. This is the Beylerbeyi Palace. It is a Western looking, neo-baroque style palace that has an Ottoman plan. Beylerbeyi is also the name of the district that was once a small village which was a residential area since Byzantine times. The word beylerbeyi, which can be translated as “the Lord of Lords”, corresponds to a high rank in the Ottoman hierarchy. The term initially corresponded to a commander-in-chief but eventually evolved to designate a governor-general who was responsible for important and large provinces. Therefore, the name of the district implies that there was once a beylerbeyi living in this area. This beylerbeyi was in fact a certain Mehmet Pasha who was the Governor of Rumeli (i.e. the governor of the Ottoman realm in Europe) during Sultan Murat III’s reign (r.1574-1595). Mehmet Pasha had a mansion built for him here which eventually vanished, but the name lived on as the name of the district.

The site of the Palace itself was a spot where different structures had been built since the Byzantine era. It was named as the “Garden of the Cross” until the beginning of the 19^th century due to a huge cross that was engraved on a wall on the premises. Apparently, there was a church and a holy spring here at the time. The first notable Ottoman palace that was built here was a wooden structure that was constructed in 1829 by the order of Sultan Mahmut II (r.1808-1839). A disastrous fire burnt this building to the ground in 1851 while the succeeding Sultan, Sultan Abdülmecit, was staying there. The place was considered to be cursed from then on and the remains were left to decay. The Palace that we see today was commissioned by Sultan Abdülaziz as a summer residence and built between 1863-1865 by the Armenian Ottoman architects Sarkis Balyan and Agop Balyan. (The Balyan family was a major contributor to the changing image of Istanbul in the 19^th century. Their father Garabet Amira Balyan and their brother Nikoğos Balyan were among the architects of the Dolmabahçe Palace.) The Beylerbeyi Palace covers an area of 3000 square metres, including the additional pavilions and buildings. The gardens stretch across an area of 70 acres. The Palace was inaugurated by Sultan Abdülaziz on April 12^th, 1865 following a prayer at the Beylerbeyi Mosque nearby.

The Beylerbeyi Palace combines the basic characteristics of Ottoman palaces and houses with Western architectural styles. It is divided into the Selamlık (or Mabeyn) and Harem sections. In the garden there are additional buildings such as the Yellow and the Marble Pavilions, the Sea Pavilions, the Royal Stables and the tunnel that connects Üsküdar (district) to Beylerbeyi. Some of these structures are older than the Palace itself, dated to the time of Sultan Mahmut II, father of Sultan Abdülaziz. They are closed to visitors from time to time for ongoing restorations.

The Palace has a basement where the kitchens are located. The two upper storeys house the state rooms and the imperial apartments. There is a total of 24 rooms and 6 halls. The Yellow and Marble Pavilions also have grand halls. The floors of the Palace are worth a close look. They are covered with special, wall-to-wall, straw mats from Egypt with the probable intent of reducing humidity inside the building. Designed as a summer palace, the building has no heating system. Beylerbeyi is lavishly decorated and furnished just like the Dolmabahçe Palace built by Sultan Abdülaziz’s brother, Sultan Abdülmecit, across the Bosphorus. There are precious Turkish Hereke carpets, French Baccarat and Bohemian crystal chandeliers, English, French and Turkish clocks, vases made in China, Japan, France and Germany, in addition to the ones produced at the Ottoman Imperial Porcelain Factory, Yıldız. The Palace also has some superb murals and a rich collection of paintings by painters such as Aizavowski. Sultan Abdülaziz was a painter himself and was the initiator of the Ottoman Imperial Painting Collection with the paintings he bought abroad. He was also the benefactor of several Ottoman painters whom he sent to Paris for education. (If you would like to read more about the Painting Museum and Sultan Abdülaziz, you can access my post, The Ottoman Imperial Painting Collection, by clicking the link.)

Sultan Abdülaziz was the only Ottoman Sultan who commissioned a statue of himself. None of the previous Sultans had attempted to do so due to the prohibition of statues of human figures in Islam. This was in a way, a continuation of the Westernisation movement that was started by his father and brother. However, being still wary of the reaction of the public, he had the statue placed inside the Dolmabahçe Palace, instead of in open air somewhere in the city. Currently, it is displayed at the Beylerbeyi Palace. The statue of Sultan Abdülaziz was made in 1872, by the English sculptor Charles Fuller. The mold was completed in Florence and the bronze casting made in Munich. There are numerous other statues of animal figures in the gardens of the Beylerbeyi Palace. Most of them were commissioned by the Sultan around the year 1864. Some of them were later transferred to the gardens of the Dolmabahçe and Yıldız Palaces. The majority of the statues are the work of art of the French sculptor Pierre Louis Rouillard. Unlike most masters, Rouillard had the habit of putting the signatures of all the contributing sculptors in his team on the statues that were made. This egalitarian approach of the artist makes it possible to track all the artists that served in his team. Two of the statues that were made by Rouillard are today in public areas in Istanbul. The rearing horse statue by Rouillard and Louis Joseph Doumas was made as a pair for the Royal Stables of the Beylerbeyi Palace. Today, only one of them is still at its original place at the Palace. The other one stands in front of the White Pavilion of the private Sabancı Museum in Emirgan, by the Bosphorus. The statue of the fighting bull, by Rouillard and Isidore Bonheur, is more mingled with the everyday life of Istanbulites even if most of them do not know the story of the statue as they pass by. It is at a crossroads in Kadıköy, on the Asian side of the city, and has become the symbol of the district.

Apart from being a summer residence for the Ottoman dynasty, the Beylerbeyi Palace was also a State Guest House. The Palace hosted many notable guests in that capacity. Some of them were Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary (1869); Nikola, King of Montenegro (1874); Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia (in 1889,1898 and 1917); Edward VIII, King of Great Britain and Mrs. Simpson (1936). Sultan Abdülhamit II (r.1876-1909) spent the last six years of his life at the Beylerbeyi Palace after he was dethroned in 1909. He was sent into exile to Thessaloniki where he stayed until the Balkan War in 1912 during which the Ottomans lost the city. Upon his return, Sultan Abdülhamit stayed under house arrest until his death in 1918.

Among all the above guests, there was one who was very special… She was Empress Eugenie of France and Sultan Abdülaziz was already in love with her when she came to Istanbul on her way to the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869. He had been waiting to see her again for two years. The Empress was welcomed ceremoniously on her ship and offered invaluable presents by the Sultan. She was then hosted at the Beylerbeyi Palace.

Sultan Abdülaziz and the Empress had met during the Sultan’s trip to Europe in 1867. He was invited by Empress Eugenie’s husband, Emperor Napoleon III of France, to inaugurate the International Paris Exhibition. Abdülaziz was met according to protocol at the railway station by Napoleon III. When they went together to the Tuilleries Palace where Empress Eugenie was waiting, the Sultan was instantly struck by her beauty and intelligence. They dined together and the following day, all three of them went to the Crystal Palace where the exhibition was.

Sultan Abdülaziz was not able to forget the Empress but could only see her again in October 1869. This was an opportunity that brought the two of them together on a more intimate and personal level. According to hearsay, on the night of October 17^th, 1869, an imperial caique (for more about imperial caiques, you can read the post, The Naval Museum) secretly took the Sultan from the Dolmabahçe Palace, across the Bosphorus, to the Beylerbeyi Palace. He went to the bedroom of the Empress through a secret passage and spent the night there…

Unfortunately, life evolved and ended tragically for both parties of this royal love affair. Only a year later, when Napoleon III was defeated and taken prisoner by the Germans, Empress Eugenie had to flee the country to take refuge in England. Her husband joined her a year later after his release. However, she never went back to France. Napoleon III died in 1873. While in exile, she visited Istanbul once more in 1911. By that time, Sultan Abdülaziz was deceased long ago. He was dethroned in 1876 and died (most probably murdered) shortly afterwards. She made a special request from the Sultan of the time, to be able to see the son of Sultan Abdülaziz, Prince (Shehzade) Yusuf İzzet Efendi whom she had last seen 42 years ago. Eugenie became more and more devoted to religion after the death of her son while fighting in the war in South Africa. She died in 1920 in her home country, Spain, after 50 years of exile.