Adile Sultan Palace ( tr, Adile Sultan Sarayı) is the former royal residence of Ottoman princess Adile Sultan. It was donated to the state by Adile Sultan to be used as a school building for the

Kandilli Anatolian High School for Girls Kandilli Anatolian High School for Girls ( tr, Kandilli Kız Anadolu Lisesi) is a secondary educational institution located in the Kandilli neighborhood of Üsküdar district in Istanbul, Turkey. Known traditionally as ''Kandilli Kız Lisesi'', ...

and is today a

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Asia * Cen ...

. It is located in the Kandilli neighbourhood of

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

History

The palace was built for the Ottoman princess Adile Sultan (1826–1899), the daughter of Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...

(1789–1839) and the sister of the Sultans

Abdülmecid I Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...

(1823–1861) and

Abdülaziz Abdulaziz ( ota, عبد العزيز, ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; tr, Abdülaziz; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a ...

(1830–1876), and designed by the court architect Sarkis Balyan. It was erected on the same place of a

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist in a ...

, which was presented to her by Sultan Abdülmecid in 1856. The palace was commissioned by Sultan Abdülaziz and built by Balyan in 1861. It stands at one of the most prominent places in Istanbul, upon a hill, which is a headland in the middle of

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

on the

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n shore. This location enables a panoramic view of Bosphorus, reaching from the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via t ...

to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

, seen out of all the rooms in three sides of the building. The palace with has 55 rooms and is on a ground of 17,000 m². Adile Sultan, a great and the only Turkish royal female

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

having a Diwan, lived here until the death of her husband Mehmet Ali Pasha in 1868. She donated her residence to the state to be used as a high school for girls after her death in February 1899. Before it was used as determined, the palace came a short while under the control of Ministry of War during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Only in 1916 was the building turned into a secondary school for girls, the '' Adile Sultan İnas Mekteb-i Sultanisi'' ("Adile Sultan Imperial Girls School"), and the first graduates left the school in 1920. The school was named 1924 after its location, Kandilli Secondary School. In 1931, the school became the Kandilli High School for Girls, a respected educational institution since then. The classes of the high school moved to a new building in 1969. The old palace was used as

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or universi ...

for

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: ** Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...

girls of the school until 1986, when it was burned down due to an electrical short-circuit. The historic building became a ruin consisting of only four walls. Some alumni of Kandilli High School established soon a foundation, and raised funds to rebuild the palace. However, the cost of the restoration exceeded their extent. With the huge financial support of the late billionaire businessman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Sakıp Sabancı Sakıp Sabancı (7 April 1933 – 10 April 2004) was a Turkish business tycoon and philanthropist. Biography He was the second son of a cotton trader and worked in his father's business without completing high school. He was the head of Turkey' ...

and the Governor of Istanbul

Muammer Güler Muammer Güler (born 21 March 1949) is a Turkish politician. He is a member of parliament from the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He was formerly the Governor of Istanbul Province and the Minister of the Interior under Prime Minister ...

, the restoration work could continue. The lacking funds to accomplish the long-lasting and painstaking restoration works were donated again by Sakıp Sabancı in his sickbed three days before his death in 2004. Adile Sultan Palace was rebuilt in ten years at a cost of 9.5 million YTL, and it revived after twenty years by reopening with a ceremony, which took place on June 28, 2006. The building is named "Sakıp Sabancı Kandilli Education and Culture Center". The palace covers an area of 5,625 m², which accommodates an oval hall for meeting and banqueting of 500 people, another two meeting halls for 200 people each, a 1,300 m² hall for cocktails and exhibitions, 20 seminar rooms with 30-40 seats, a museum, a dining hall for 150 people and a cafeteria for 60 people. The palace garden offers place for 2,000 people.

References

Newspaper ''Radikal''

News bulletin
{{Authority control Ottoman palaces in Istanbul Sarkis Balyan buildings Houses completed in 1861 Redevelopment projects in Istanbul Buildings and structures completed in 2006 Bosphorus Üsküdar 1861 establishments in the Ottoman Empire

History

See also

References