European side · Beşiktaş
Ihlamur Pavilions
Two small pavilions of the 1850s in a valley once full of linden trees.
Photographs of this palace are coming soon.
History
The Fulya stream once ran through this valley, and from the eighteenth century it was a favourite excursion spot shaded by linden (ıhlamur) and plane trees. Part of it was the vineyard of a naval official under Ahmed III before it passed to the crown as an imperial garden.
Selim III and Mahmud II practised archery here; the stones that mark their shots, with the distance and date, still stand in the garden. The French poet Lamartine described the place as the sultan’s guest in 1846.
Abdülmecid had the two present pavilions built between 1849 and 1855 and named the place Nüzhetiye, “the place of delight”. In 1951 the site became the city’s Tanzimat Museum; it passed to the National Palaces in 1966 and opened as a museum palace in 1985.
What to see
The Ceremonial Pavilion
Built for the sultan’s official use: a Baroque stair in front, a lively carved façade, and an entrance hall with a room on either side, furnished in European style.
The Retinue Pavilion
For the sultan’s suite and household: corner rooms around a central hall, with walls in stucco made to look like marble of different colours.
The archery stones
Marble markers in the garden recording where the sultans’ arrows landed.
Before you go
- A garden-only ticket is sold if you just want the grounds.
- It is one of the smaller sites — an hour is usually enough — and it combines easily with Yıldız or Dolmabahçe in Beşiktaş.
Questions
Which day are the Ihlamur Pavilions closed?
Monday.