Asian side · Beykoz
Küçüksu Pavilion
A small, richly carved waterside pavilion on the meadow between two streams.
Photographs of this palace are coming soon.
History
The meadow between the Göksu and Küçüksu streams was one of the sultans’ gardens on the Bosphorus and became a favourite excursion place. Evliya Çelebi described boats on the Göksu among rose gardens in the seventeenth century.
The first building was a wooden pavilion put up in 1751–1752, in the reign of Mahmud I, by the grand vizier Divitdar Mehmed Emin Pasha. It was repaired under Selim III, when a fountain was added in 1806 in the name of his mother, Mihrişah Valide Sultan.
Abdülmecid had the old pavilion demolished and the present one built in 1856–1857; Abdülaziz enriched its façades. It was a “biniş kasrı”, a pavilion for a day’s rest or hunting rather than for living in. It opened as a museum palace in 1983.
What to see
The sea façade
Carved in relief, with a small pool and fountain set against it.
The interiors
Four rooms opening off a central hall on each upper floor, with relief and painted ceilings, fireplaces of coloured Italian marble and a different parquet pattern in every room.
The picnic grounds
The meadow is run separately as a picnic area with wooden arbours, a playground and a café.
Before you go
- The pavilion and the picnic grounds have separate tickets. The Müzekart and the combined pass do not cover the picnic grounds.
- Children under 12 enter the picnic grounds free.
Questions
Which day is Küçüksu Pavilion closed?
Monday.