Day 6: Dolmabahçe Palace

Dolmabahçe Palace was built for the Ottoman sultans in 1843. At the time it cost them five million gold coins, which is the equivalent of about 1.5 billion dollars today. Until the Dolmabahçe Palace was built, the sultan had lived in Topkapi Palace which we visited on our first day in Istanbul. Sultan Abdülmecid, however, didn't that that it was luxurious or stylish enough anymore and so he commissioned the construction of a new palace on the Bosporus.

Dolmabahçe Palace is truly splendid; it is unfortunate that we weren't allowed to take pictures inside. I had to sneak this one looking out of a stained glass window facing the Bosporus. It is possible to make out a vessel in the water and to see the port where Atatürk would have been dropped off when arriving home by boat. Atatürk used the palace as a summer home and is said to have done some of his most important work there while he was in power. The palace also claims to house the world's largest chandelier. However, the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania also claims to have the world's largest chandelier… Needless to say, they were equally impressive. Yet, I have to say that the decor inside Dolmabahçe Palace is much more extravagant; it has the largest rugs, the most gold leaf, and the most silk upholstery I have ever seen.