Istanbul Travel Guide

Istanbul Ciragan Palace

In 1835, Sultan Mahmud II ordered the construction of a palace which features the mixture of Ottoman and Western architecture style.

Therefore, Garayet Balyan was charged by him. When Sultan Mahmud II died in 1855, Sultan Abdulmecid I came to the power and ordered the construction from the beginning as he aimed to change the atchitectural design but he died before his dreams came true. Afterwards, his successor Sultan Abdulaziz I was enthroned and prefered the Islamic architecture unlike the previous Sultans who decided on the Western one. The construction was completed in the year of 1871. The palace consisted of five parts. In the harem section, the concubines and wives of the Sultan were all housed.

During that time, it was estimated 5 million gold fort he completion of the construction of the palace. After Sultan Abdulaziz I dies, Sultan Murat V stayed in the palace until he was dethroned in 1904. In the year of 1910, a huge fire broke out which destroyed most of the palace into the ashes. During the following years, it was reconstructed from the beginning. One of the significant thing about this palace is that it received many foreign guests such as Austrian- Hungarian Emperor Joseph, Prussian Prince etc. During the time of the Republic of Turkey, the palace was turned into a hotel where people either stay and enjoy watching a perfect landscape or organize their weddings and special events. Overall, we recommend you visiting the Cıragan Palace.