Small Pond Outside the Dolmabahce Palace
To be honest, the Dolmabahce Palace wasn’t on my list of places that I wanted to visit in Istanbul. Granted that I did very little research coming there, I was still aware of the Topkapi Palace which was the original sultan’s palace until the Dolmabahce Palace was built. Dolmabahce Palace was built in an arguably better and more spacious location by the shores of the Bosphorus. It was intended to be a palace that can rival the best ones in Europe and I think for the most part they succeeded. The interiors of the Dolmabahce Palace are very impressive and worth comparing the more well known European ones, however, you won’t be able to tell from looking at my blog because photography is not allowed inside the halls.
Outside the Dolmabahce Palace Building in Istanbul
The palace is also a major tourist attraction as you can see from the photos. By this time, visitors were already being ushered out of the palace grounds. You can even see the staff start to close the room and even the entrances to the buildings are part of closing for the day. For me, it was the best time to take photos without the people. It also helps that the light is getting less harsh. I managed to get photos of the main palace building as well as the Gate of the Sultan both of which I thought were very impressive. Soon I had to follow everyone else going to the exit.
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