Dolmabahçe Palace
Built to rival European royal courts, it consumed 35 tonnes of Ottoman gold — roughly a quarter of the empire's annual tax revenue — and helped drive the state into bankruptcy.
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From 1853 to 1887, and again from 1909 to 1922, this waterfront palace served as the Ottoman Empire's main administrative center, home to six sultans. Abdülmecid I commissioned it specifically because Topkapı lacked the luxury and contemporary style of European monarchs' palaces. Atatürk later summered here and died in the palace on November 10, 1938.
What to look for
- The Bosporus-facing facade designed by the Armenian Balyan family — architects Garabet Balyan and his son Nigoğayos Balyan
- The European-style state rooms Abdülmecid I ordered to match contemporary monarchs' standards of luxury and comfort
- The room where Atatürk spent his final days; he died here on November 10, 1938
On the European shore of the Bosporus in Beşiktaş; ownership passed to the Turkish Republic on March 3, 1924 and it is managed as national heritage.
Dolmabahçe Palace is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Istanbul, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Istanbul pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Istanbul
- Hagia SophiaCompleted in 537, it held the title of world's largest church for over 500 years — then a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again.
- Constantinople (Istanbul)One peninsula that served as the throne of four empires for sixteen centuries straight.
- Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque)Ahmed I placed it directly opposite Hagia Sophia in 1609 and gave it six minarets — a deliberate challenge to the city's greatest building.
- Topkapı PalaceFor nearly four centuries, the sultans who ruled the Ottoman Empire lived and governed from here — until the court finally moved to Dolmabahçe in 1856.
- ByzantiumGreeks from Megara planted a colony here in the 7th century BC — and the name they gave it eventually became the word for an entire empire.
- Rams Park (Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex)Galatasaray's 53,978-seat fortress on the European side of Istanbul — and the second most eco-friendly stadium on the planet.