Beylerbeyi Palace

Beylerbeyi Palace review

After being deposed in 1908, Sultan Abdül Hamit II spent the last years of his life here. Facing north-west, the palace gets little direct sunlight - it was intended as a summer annexe to the main palace at Dolmabahçe. Beylerbeyi didn't even have its own kitchen: food was brought over from the European shore by boat. Tours only take 15 to 20 minutes, racing through the sumptuous palace dripping with crystal chandeliers and some of its five adjoining pavilions.