Dolmabahce Palace » Distance: 8 km. Located along the coast of the Bosphorus in Beşiktaş, 300 yards from the Beşiktaş ferry-boat quay, this palace is the grandest imperial Ottoman residence. It was constructed by the Armenian architects Karabet and Nikogos Balyan for Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-61) who, preferring a more modern residence, decided to move out [...]
Beylerbeyi Palace » Distance: 15 km. Situated along the banks of the Asian side of the Bosphorus in the district of Beylerbeyi, this palace complex consists of the main palace building plus five pavilions (Köşk). The architect Sarkis Balyan, the brother ol ilit architects responsible for the Dolmabahçe Palace, built this modern palace for Sultan [...]
Topkapi Palace » Distance: 300 m. Topkapi is the largest and oldest palace in the world to survive to our day. In 1924 it was turned into a museum at Atatiirk’s request. Situated on the acropolis, the site of the first settlement in Istanbul, it commands an impressive view of the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus [...]
Before the Byzantine Empire Excavations conducted at Yarımburgaz cave have uncovered evidence of human culture in the region of Küçükçekmece Lake. Collective inhabitation of Istanbul, which would later become one of the most crowded cities in the world, dates back to the Sixth Millennium B.C.E. These societies inhabited caves on both the European and Anatolian [...]
