Ottoman Legacy – Dolmabahce Palace

Dolmabahace Palace is undoubtedly one of the most vivid legacies of the Ottoman history, and one of my personal architectural favorites.

Sitting at the continental boundary between Europe and Asia - Dolmabahace Palace is touted as the most extravagant palace in the world - Scholars have even claimed that the huge construction expenditure has contributed to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire. It is constructed almost entirely in marble, crystal and gold, and houses some of the most outrageously expensive furnishings, artefacts and decor beyond compare.

Home to six Turkish Sultans and the first President of the Republic of Turkey, the design of the palace was a synthesis of Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical and traditional Ottoman architecture - a unique aesthetic and architectural language yet to found elsewhere.

Every angle, every detail of Dolmabahace Palace screams excellence in design, craftmanship and materiality - of which are all encompassed within its water-front facade spanning along the Bosporous Strait shoreline - a grandiose icon of the Ottoman legacy, an iconic building that one must visit in a lifetime.