DESIGN FEATURES AND STATE OF PRESERVATION OF THE GARDENS OF BEYKOZ PAVILION

Abstract

Beykoz Pavilion is situated in Beykoz district and was built to be given to Sultan Abdulmecid (1839-1861) as a gift. The pavilion has a layout contrary to the approach of constructing a building in the plain area in coastal level in Istanbul and of using the hill rising along the slope as a garden complex. Built on a hill on the Anatolian side with European side and Bosporus view, the gardens of the palace are constituted of five terraces of different levels and sizes according to the shape of the hill. The pavilion and its gardens have a special value with this feature. The pavilion has been used for horse riding in its early years. In the following years, the pavilion has been served for public and used as orphanage, preventorium and children's hospital respectively. In this period, the repair work of the pavilion and its gardens was not carried out properly, and increased material deterioration due to the influence of environmental conditions has resulted in serious damage to architectural elements in the gardens. In 1999, the pavilion was entrusted to the General Secretariat of Turkish Grand National Assembly (Department of National Palaces). After this date, a comprehensive restoration work was started in the pavilion and its gardens. Today, the pavilion is being used as a museum. Within the scope of this study, design features and architectural elements of the gardens of the Beykoz Pavilion, changes in the gardens and its components over time were and their present state are evaluated. In order to determine the changes in the gardens in historical process, photographs, maps and plans in the archives are examined, past and present satellite images are compared, and these studies are reinforced with field survey to reveal the state of preservation of the gardens and architectural elements.