Beylerbeyi Palace

A summer retreat fit for empresses

An earlier wooden palace built under Mahmud II stood here until it burned in the mid-19th century. Sultan Abdülaziz replaced it with the stone palace you see today, designed by the brothers Sarkis and Agop Balyan, members of the architectural dynasty behind much of 19th-century Ottoman Istanbul. Behind the European-style façades, the plan keeps the traditional division into harem and selamlık.

Besides serving as a summer residence, Beylerbeyi became a guest house for visiting heads of state. The most celebrated guest was Empress Eugénie of France in 1869; the story goes that she admired the palace's windows so much she wanted copies for her residence in Paris. The palace also has a melancholy chapter: the deposed Sultan Abdülhamid II spent his final years here and died in the palace in 1918.

Highlights of the tour

• The Pool Room: on the ground floor of the selamlık, a marble pool with a fountain cooled the air in summer, the palace's signature space
• Egyptian reed matting laid over the floors for insulation, a surprisingly practical detail
• Reception rooms dressed with crystal chandeliers, Hereke carpets, European clocks and East Asian porcelain
• Two elegant sea pavilions on the quay, one on the harem side and one on the selamlık side
• Terraced gardens with magnolias and cypresses, plus older pavilions such as the Marble Kiosk and the Yellow Kiosk, and the stable pavilion

How visits work

The palace is run by the National Palaces administration, and interiors are usually seen in guided groups. You may be asked to wear shoe covers to protect the carpets, and photography indoors may be limited, so ask at the entrance. The palace closes on certain weekdays and hours vary with the season; check official sources before you go.

The guided route takes around an hour. Leave time for the gardens and the quay, where the swirling current, the giant bridge towers overhead and Ortaköy across the water make a striking meeting of old and new.

Beylerbeyi or Dolmabahçe?

Built by the same family of architects, Dolmabahçe Palace was the grand seat of government, while Beylerbeyi was a place to relax. If Dolmabahçe's crowds wear you out, Beylerbeyi shows the same era at a gentler pace. Add Topkapı Palace and you can trace how Ottoman court life changed from the 15th to the 19th century in three stops.

Tickets for the National Palaces are handled separately from most Ministry-run museums, so your museum pass may not apply here. Our museum pass guide explains the differences.

Getting there from Sareban Hotel

From our hotel, walk or take the T1 tram to Sirkeci and cross under the Bosphorus on Marmaray to Üsküdar. From Üsküdar Square, buses heading north along the coast road reach Beylerbeyi in a few stops, and a taxi is quick too.

It's easy to combine the palace with the village of Kuzguncuk just to the south. North of the palace, the little square by Beylerbeyi's pier and its 18th-century mosque, built under Sultan Abdülhamid I, are worth a look before you head back to Üsküdar for the ferry to Eminönü.