YILDIZ PALACE (YILDIZ SARAYI)

This palace was built by Abdulhamid, and consists of kiosks, chalets and pavilions. If ! 'have been talking of palace since the description of Dolmabahce, please do not think this is a sign of a special predilection. One has only to remember that this city called Istanbul -has been the capital of empire upon empire for more than 2000 years and one will be surprised no longer at the vast number of palaces.

After paying a fee per person end car at the entrance. the first thing that strides the visitor is the sense of freshness and quiet content that seems to be distilled from the high trees. All manner of tree here rises to the sky. Greenery abounds and among the bushes little streams flow and form lakes. In the autumn a rich and varied exhibition of dahlias takes place here which we recommend the visitor not to miss if he is here at that season. To the left of the entrance end the surfaced road, in the vast garden that surrounds the palace and on all its terraces, more than 200 varieties of dahlias can be seen. Their profusion of color is so great that one ends up by feeling almost oppressed.

Originally, at the end of the 19th century, this palace was a simple villa. Legend has it that Abdul Mecit I's favourite mistress Yildiz, lived here. But the monarch who built all these villas and pavilions in this park was Abdulhamid, one of the last of the padishahs, who recalling the two dethronements that had taken place in the Dolmabahce Palace, decided to move elsewhere.