Dolmabahce Palace

View looking southwest at the Dolmabahce Palace located on the European shore of the Bosphorus.

This palace was built in 1856 by Sultan Abdul Macit and the last sultans of the Ottoman Empire resided here in luxury as the empire decayed as the Dolmabahce replaced the Topkapi as the imperial residence.  It is situated over the now filled-in harbor from which Mehmet II launched his successful attack on Constantinople in A.D. 1453 (“dolmabahce means “filled garden”).

It was here that the father of modern Turkey, Ataturk, died on November 10, 1938 at 9:05 AM.  All the clocks in the palace are set to this time in his honor.