Dolmabahçe Palace renovations to end in October

ISTANBUL

The Directorate of National Palaces announced that the restoration works carried out in Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace are expected to be finalized at the end of October.

Renovation works on the palace started in April on the 770-meter walls of its outer part, including the Sultanate Gate.

It was stated by directorate officials that the tiles on the upper part of the wall will also be restored, which started to deteriorate due to the upper capstone cover being destroyed over time for various reasons.

Restoration experts identified the damaged sections of the walls, applied injections to the damaged and cracked sections, and used Khorasan mortar, a traditional mortar mixture, for most of the exterior plaster.

Gökşen Yılmaz, head of the National Palaces Restoration Department, gave information about the restoration works and the history of the palace to local media.

“Dolmabahçe Palace is a building whose construction was completed in 1856 during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid. It is a building that architecturally embodies the social and artistic activities, changes and cultural reflections of the period. It was built as a ‘prestige palace’ on the Bosphorus coastline at a time when the westernization trend intensified in the 19th century. It also caused a change in the rapidly growing silhouette of the city.”

“While Topkapı Palace was a collection of buildings that expanded over time according to the needs, on the contrary, Dolmabahçe Palace has a pre-planned main structure, a structure surrounded by high walls, and architectural integrity.”

Stating that after they repaired the damaged parts of the upper capstone cover of the outer walls, Yılmaz said that they continued the plaster scraping in order to remove the cracks in the plaster and walls.

“Afterwards, we plan to end our restoration works with a final coat of paint,” she said, stressing that the works will be finalized at the end of October.

Dolmabahçe Palace holds great significance for the nation’s history since it is where Atatürk, the founder of modern Türkiye, gave his first speech in Istanbul, where he died and where his funeral was held.