The Accidental Palace: The Making of Yıldız in Nineteenth-Century Istanbul

This book tells the story of Yıldız Palace in Istanbul, the last and largest imperial residential complex of the Ottoman Empire. Today, the palace is physically fragmented and has been all but erased from Istanbul’s urban memory. At its peak, however, Yıldız was a global city in miniature and the center of the empire’s vast bureaucratic apparatus. Following a chronological arc from 1795 to 1909, __The Accidental Palace__ shows how the site developed from a rural estate of the queen mothers into the heart of Ottoman government. Nominally, the palace may have belonged to the rarefied realm of the Ottoman elite, but as Deniz Türker reveals, the development of the site was profoundly connected to Istanbul’s urban history and to changing conceptions of empire, absolutism, diplomacy, reform, and the public. Türker explores these connections, framing Yıldız Palace and its grounds not only as a hermetic expression of imperial identity but also as a product of an increasingly globalized consumer culture, defined by access to a vast number of goods and services across geographical boundaries. Drawn from archival research conducted in Yıldız’s imperial library, __The Accidental Palace__ provides important insights into a decisive moment in the palace’s architectural and landscape history and demonstrates how Yıldız was inextricably tied to ideas of sovereignty, visibility, taste, and self-fashioning. It will appeal to specialists in the art, architecture, politics, and culture of nineteenth-century Turkey and the Ottoman Empire.

This book tells the story of Yıldız Palace in Istanbul, the lastand largest imperial residential complex of the Ottoman Empire.Today, the palace is physically fragmented and has been all buterased from Istanbul's urban memory. At its peak, however, Yıldızwas a global city in miniature and the center of the empire's vastbureaucratic apparatus.

Following a chronological arc from 1795 to 1909, TheAccidental Palace shows how the site developed from a ruralestate of the queen mothers into the heart of Ottoman government.Nominally, the palace may have belonged to the rarefied realm ofthe Ottoman elite, but as Deniz Türker reveals, the development ofthe site was profoundly connected to Istanbul's urban history andto changing conceptions of empire, absolutism, diplomacy, reform,and the public. Türker explores these connections, framing YıldızPalace and its grounds not only as a hermetic expression ofimperial identity but also as a product of an increasinglyglobalized consumer culture, defined by access to a vast number ofgoods and services across geographical boundaries.

Drawn from archival research conducted in Yıldız's imperiallibrary, The Accidental Palace provides important insightsinto a decisive moment in the palace's architectural and landscapehistory and demonstrates how Yıldız was inextricably tied to ideasof sovereignty, visibility, taste, and self-fashioning. It willappeal to specialists in the art, architecture, politics, andculture of nineteenth-century Turkey and the Ottoman Empire.

Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Notes on Transliterations and Translations Introduction Chapter 1 Sultan Abdülhamid II’s Yıldız Palace Chapter 2 Yıldız Kiosk and the Queen Mothers Chapter 3 Yıldız and Its Gardeners Chapter 4 The Architecture of Yıldız Mountain Chapter 5 The Last Photograph Album of the Hamidian Palace Coda: Palace Mosque, Palace Theater Notes Selected Bibliography Index