Adile Sultan Palace

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Adile Sultan Palace is a former royal residence, which was used later as a school building, and is a cultural centre today located in Kandilli neighbourhood of İstanbul, Turkey.

The palace was built for the Ottoman princess Adile Sultan (1825-1898), the daughter of Sultan Mahmud II (1785-1839) and the sister of the Sultans Abdulmecid (1823-1861) and Abdulaziz (1830-1876). It was erected on the same place of a kiosk, which was presented to her by Sultan Abdulmecid in 1856. The palace was commissioned by Sultan Abdulaziz and built by the renowned court architect Sarkis Balyan in 1861. It stands at one of the most glorious places, on a hill, which is a headland in the middle of Bosphorus on the Asian shore. This location enables a wonderful panoramic view of Bosphorus reaching from Sea of Marmara to Black Sea seen out of all the rooms in three sides of the building. The palace with 55 rooms was on a ground of 17,000 m².

Adile Sultan, a great and the only Turkish royal female poet having a Diwan, lived here until the death of her husband Mehmet Ali Pasha in 1868. She donated her residence to the state to be used as a high school for girls after her death in 1898. Before it was used as determined, the palace came a short while under the control of Ministry of War during World War I. Only in 1916, it could be turned to a secondary school for girls and the first graduates left the school in 1920. The school was named 1924 after its location, Kandilli Secondary School. In 1931, the school became Kandilli High School for Girls, a respected educational institution since then. The classes of the high school moved to a new building in 1969. The old palace was used as dormitory for boarding girls of the school until 1986, when it was burnt down due to an electrical short-circuit. The historic building became a ruin consisting of only four walls.

Some alumni of Kandilli High School established soon a foundation, and raised funds to rebuild the palace. However, the cost of the restoration exceeded their extent. With the huge financial support of the late billionaire businessman and philanthropist Sakıp Sabancı and the Governor of İstanbul Muammer Güler, the restoration work could continue. The lacking funds to accomplish the long-lasting and painstaking restoration works were donated again by Sakıp Sabancı in his sickbed three days before his death in 2004. Adile Sultan Palace was rebuilt in ten years at a cost of 9.5 million YTL, and it revived after twenty years by reopening with a ceremony, which took place on June 28, 2006.

The building is named "Sakıp Sabancı Kandilli Education and Culture Center". The palace covers an area of 5,625 m², which accommodates an oval hall for meeting and banqueting of 500 people, another two meeting halls for 200 people each, a 1,300 m² hall for cocktails and exhibitions, 20 seminar rooms with 30-40 seats, a museum, a dining hall for 150 people and a cafeteria for 60 people. The palace garden offers place for 2,000 people.