Dolmabahce Palace – Half Day Tour

Dolmabahce Palace: It was the residence and second palace of the Ottoman sultans until the fall of the Empire

Grand Bazaar: Breathe the air of a market that was the center of commerce in the 15th century.

Your guide awaits you at the port of Istanbul with a small sign indicating your name, ready for a tour.

Dolmabahce Palace

Its construction was by order of Abdulmecid I, 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and lasted from 1843 to 1856. Haci Said Aga was responsible for the works, while the project was the work of the architects Garabet Balyan, his son Nigogayos and Evanis Kalfa (members of the Balyan family of Ottoman court architects). Its construction cost 5 million Ottoman Mecidiye gold coins, about 35 tons of gold. Fourteen tons of gold, in the form of gold leaf, were used to gild the ceilings of the 45,000 m2 single-block palace, which lies on an area of ​​110,000 m2. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Republic of Turkey and modern Turkey, died here on November 10, 1938. It receives huge numbers of visitors daily as one of the most interesting places in the city.

Grand Bazaar

One of the largest covered markets in the world, with 4,000 stores and 60 streets and between 300,000 and 500,000 daily visitors. Famous for its painted ceramics, rugs, jewelry, spices, souvenirs, and antiques. It was built between 1455 and 1461 by order of Mehmed II the Conqueror. It has four main gates and it is not difficult to get lost, which is why it is important to remember the name of the gate through which you entered and stay in the same place with the guide.

Then we return to the port.