The Feriye Palace () is a complex of Ottoman imperial palace buildings along the European shoreline of the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Currently, the buildings host educational institutions such as a high school and a university.

History

The palace complex was commissioned by Sultan Abdülaziz (reigned 1861–76) in 1871, and designed by architect Sarkis Balyan. The buildings were built to meet the need of the extended family members of the imperial court for residence. The palace, which was constructed in addition to

Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( ) is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922. Histor ...

and

Çırağan Palace Çırağan Palace (), a former Ottoman palace, is now a five-star hotel in the Kempinski Hotels chain. It is located on the European shore of the Bosporus, between Beşiktaş and Ortaköy in Istanbul, Turkey. The Sultan Suite, billed at pe ...

, took the name "Feriye" meaning "secondary" or "auxiliary" in

Ottoman Turkish language Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register (sociolinguistics), register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian language, Persian. It ...

. It consists of three main buildings on the waterfront, a ward for concubines, a small two-story building and outbuildings on the backside. On May 30, 1876, Sultan Abdülaziz was deposed by his ministers. He moved to Feriye Palace at his own request after a four-day stay in

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...

. Shortly after, he was found with his wrists cut at Feriye Palace. This was documented as a suicide at the time. Various members of the Ottoman imperial court resided in Feriye Palace until March 3, 1924, the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate by the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of the newly founded Republic of Turkey. The buildings remained vacant for a period of time following the external deportation of the last

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Abdülmecid II Abdülmecid II or Abdulmejid II (; ; 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944), commonly known as Abdülmecid Efendi, was the last Ottoman Caliphate, Ottoman caliph, the only caliph of the Republic of Turkey, and head of the Osmanoğlu family from 19 ...

together with the court members.

Current use

In 1927, the Maritime College () settled in some buildings of Feriye Palace. In the 1928–29 academic term, Kabataş High School also moved into some buildings of the palace complex. Part of the palace hosted the girls' section of

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

when in 1967 the institution started mixed-gender education. Part of the complex in northeastern remained years long neglected. The Maritime College was transformed into Istanbul Technical University's School of Maritime in 1981, and moved to

Tuzla, Istanbul Tuzla is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. It has a population of 288,878 (2022) and a land area of 138 km2 . It is on the Asian side of the city next to the municipality of Pendik. Tuzla is on a headland on the coa ...

. The buildings became temporarily vacant, were then assigned to Ziya Kalkavan Maritime Vocational High School in 1982. The buildings, which girls' section of Galatasaray High School used, were turned over to Galatasaray University in 1992. The main building is used by a number of the university's faculties, such as the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Communications and various administrative offices. The main building, which is currently used by the university was originally known as ''İbrahim Tevfik Efendi Sahil Sarayı'' In 1995, the section of the palace complex in state of neglect was restored by Kabataş Education Foundation, and turned into an upper-class restaurant, Feriye Lokantası. The main building, which is used by Galatasaray University, was severely damaged by fire on January 22, 2013. The

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

has stated that the building would be restored to its previous state, and would continue to be utilized furthermore for educational purposes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feriye Palace Houses completed in 1871 Galatasaray University Ottoman palaces in Istanbul Bosphorus Beşiktaş Sarkis Balyan buildings 19th-century architecture in Turkey

History

Current use

See also

References