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Name of Monument:

Yıldız Palace Small State Kiosk

Location:

Istanbul, Türkiye

Responsible Institution:

Yıldız Palace Museum

 About Ministry of Culture and Tourism (General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums), Istanbul

Date of Monument:

1901

Architect(s) / Master-builder(s):

Raimondo D'Aronco (1857, Gemona – 1932, San Remo)

History:

Yildiz Palace, which is the last architectural example of Turkish Ottoman palace, is located on the Yildiz hill in the district of Besiktas. Sultan Ahmed I was the first to build a pavilion, over this land registered at the time to the Private treasury of the Ottoman Sultan as a hunting place sultans beginning during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566).

The main construction in the palace started in the period of Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) and it was called Saray-i Humayun (Central palace). During this period the palace comprised of buildings for private use of the sultan as well as buildings, allocated for the officials, repair shops and carpentry like repairing shop, carpenter’s shop and the buildings of culture and art such as theatre, museum and library. The Palace begun to serve as a museum under the name of “Directorate of the Museum of Yildiz Palace since 1993.

Description:

Small State Kiosk was built in 1901 as the studying and resting kiosks upon the order of Sultan Abdulhamid II. The Sultan was holding official meetings here and it was used for the same purpose by the subsequent sultans. The two storied building has also a garret known as Winter Garden. The kiosk is famous for its ceiling decorations, the handrails decorated with flower branches in the form of elegant Art Nouveau and leaded windows bearing Bonet s signature. Sultan Abdulhamid II was informed about his dethronement in this kiosk. After his residence in Dolmabance Palace, Sultan Vahidettin settled in Yildiz Palace and made his interviews in this kiosk in the armistice period. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk also met Sultan Vahidettin for the last time on May 15th, 1919, in one of the room of this kiosk , before heading to Samsun with the title of 3rd Army Inspector.

Citation of this web page:

"Yıldız Palace Small State Kiosk" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monuments;AWE;tr;13;en

MWNF Working Number: TR2 004