Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul
The Dolmabahce Palace is the largest palace in Türkiye. It is a result of some insecurity of a sultan who felt that the old palace of the sultans wasn’t grand enough. In fairness, the Topkapi Palace, where Sultan Abdulmecid I was living in, wasn’t exactly a place which would make your jaw drop, especially if you compare it to other European palaces. He then set out to build a palace worthy of a sultan – the Dolmabache Palace. The palace was still in Istanbul but it was built in the new part of Istanbul. The Topkapi Palace was in the old part of Istanbul and it didn’t really have much room to expand anyway.
Walking Around the Dolmabache Palace Garden in Istanbul
The Dolmabache Palace promises to be a better planned palace and right away, it feels more spacious the moment you enter. The gardens are what you see first. This isn’t as vast as the gardens in other European palaces but definitely bigger than the one at Topkapi Palace. The garden is well maintained with colorful plants, giving the garden a much livelier feel compared to the garden at Topkapi. In the distance you can see the palace building itself which makes for a great backdrop to the beautiful gardens. As you might expect, there were a lot of people here but it wasn’t overwhelmingly crowded either.
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