The Bosphorus - Dolmabache Palace

The big noise on the Bosphorus, however, is the totally-over-the-top Dolmabache Palace. We didn't visit on this trip, so you will have to be content with my 1990 photos, which have held up pretty well despite the passage of time, not always kind to film stock. Built 1943-56 by the 31st Ottoman sultan, it sports a variety of different European influences of the time and was home to six sultans, until the Caliphate was abolished when the modern nation of Turkey was established in 1924. It cost the equivalent of $1.4 billion to construct.

From the waterside:

Its mosque:

Dolmabache's gardens:

Inside, well, one hardly knows where to start. Let's begin with one of my favorites, the crystal staircase - yes, all those balustrades are crystal:

Hardly the only use of crystal in the palace, however:

The bath isn't half bad, either:

And there's plenty more to distract the eye: