Edirne Palace

Hikayemiz

Edirne Palace, or formerly New Imperial Palace was a palace of the Ottoman sultans in Edirne, mostly during the era when the city was the capital of the empire. Few of the palace buildings have survived until now, however works are underway for its reconstruction.HistoryThe palace was built in a hunting ground and woods covering 30- land north of the city on the west bank of Tunca river. Construction of the palace began in 1450 during the reign of Murad II (r. 1421–1444 and 1446–1451), however stopped when the sultan died. After some time of interruption, it was completed by Mehmed the Conqueror (r. 1444–1446 and 1451–1481) in 1475. In the following years, the palace was continuously maintained and extended with new buildings around it during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566), Ahmed I (r. 1603–1617), Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687), Ahmed II (r. 1691–1695) and Ahmed III (r. 1703–1730).The palace remained unused from 1718, when Ahmed III relocated his seat to Istanbul, until 1768, when Mustafa III (r. 1757–1774) returned to the city. During the period of a half-century vacancy, the palace fell into a state of dilapidation. The destruction continued by the 1752 earthquake and the 1776 fire. In 1825, some parts of the palace were repaired by Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839). The palace was damaged heavily when the Russian forces occupying Edirne in 1829 when they used it as a military camp. Between 1868 and 1873, many buildings of the palace complex underwent restoration by the city governors of the time. Finally, the palace was destroyed to great extent when an ammunition depot close to it was intentionally blown up on the order of Edirne Governor in fear of nearing Russian forces during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). The structural elements of the ruined palace were then plundered to be used elsewhere.