Category: Residential
Type: Museum
Location: Göksu, Küçüksu Ave. Beykoz
Date: 1856
Designer: Nigoğos Balyan
Period: Ottoman Empire
Photo: T.C. Cumhurbaşkanlığı Milli Saraylar Başkanlığı (millisaraylar.gov.tr)
The Küçüksu Pavilion, located in a historically significant imperial garden between the Göksu and Küçüksu rivers, represents a transition from earlier wooden hunting lodges to a permanent stone masterpiece completed in 1857 during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid. Originally used for short-term recreational stays and hunting excursions, the three-story structure combines a traditional Turkish interior layout with elaborate Western-influenced facade decorations added later under Sultan Abdülaziz. Inside, the pavilion serves as a rich display of 19th-century artistry, featuring Italian marble fireplaces, intricate parquet floors, and European-style furnishings. Following its long history as a royal retreat, the site was opened to the public as a museum-palace in 1983, preserving its unique blend of Ottoman tradition and European decorative styles.
Beylerbeyi Palace was used as a summer residence and as the State Guest House. Many guests stayed here like Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary (1869); Eugénie, Empress of France (1869); Nikola, King of Montenegro (1874) and German Emperor Wilhelm II. Sultan Abdülhamid II, after he was dethroned, spent his last six years in Beylerbeyi Palace and died here in 1918.
