Turkey 20 – Dolmabahçe Palace and Eyüp

Dolmabahce Palace Istanbul Turkey

Yesterday, we started at a crafts market in Üsküdar, then took the ferry across the Bosphorous to tour the Dolmabahçe Palace, which was built in 1853.  It is easy to look at all these palaces, and wonder why “each new sultan had to build his own“.  In this case, though, it was replacing Topkapi Palace, which the line of sultans had occupied for over 400 years.  I guess I’d look for new digs after 400 years too…

The grounds include a huge garden, which is actually landfill created in the 18th century.  The buildings are grand, as you probably expect.  Created by French and Italian architects in the “Westernization Period” of the Ottoman Empire, the buildings and decor look like ones we’ve seen in Versailles, France.

Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside any of the buildings.

Eyup Istanbul Turkey Ottoman Tombs

Today we took the ferry up the Golden Horn, and then spent another few hours at Eyüp, a local pilgrimage site.  The village has large cemeteries, including older Ottoman mausoleums, so we spent some time locating the Ottoman headstones dating back to the Middle Ages, while others were new in this decade. You can recognize the men’s headstones, as they have either a turban or a fez, whereas the women’s headstones were adorned more simply.

Eyup Istanbul Turkey buildings mosques caskets

We had earlier visited the Eyüp Sultan Mosque, so won’t repeat those images here. There were several other small tombs around the village with the remains of past sultans. Then, we rode the funicular to the top to Pierre Loti for the panoramic views and some ice cream.

Eyup Istanbul Turkey people vendors

People-watching is always a popular portion of any trip we take, and this was no exception.  As was true last time we were here, there were about a dozen young boys dressed up as sultans for their circumcision ceremonies.

On the way back home, we saw this scene of urban decay on the riverbank.  An old factory and boat long since rusted and gone to ruin.  If we had a few more days in Istanbul, we would have arranged to go there and crawl through the debris for some interesting detail photos.

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