Splendid Palace

Hakkında

A Magnificent building with silvery domes and red shutters, facing Marmara sea one side and the city of İstanbul on the others. A hotel in historical symbiosis with nature, retaining the nostalgic ecstasy of the past in Büyükada.

Hikayemiz

Splendid Palace Hotel…. A magnificent building with silvery domes and red shutters, facing the Marmara one side and the city of Istanbul on the other… a hotel in historical symbiosis with nature, retaining the nostalgic ecstasy of the past in Büyükada,s unique, peaceful and relaxing island atmosphere far removed from the stress creating nature of the city. In Büyükada as well as the other Princes Islands, horse drawn carriages are still the only means of public transportation..

Splendid Palace Hotel was inaugurated in 1908. Though inspired to some extent by ‘Art Nouveau’ the hotel clearly displays an east /west synthesis in architectural design with its bright inner courtyard encircled with rooms, and the pillars on floors around the couryard.

The swimming pool in a verdant surrounding of tress is the outcome of a building design which is in harmony which nature.

The Splendid Palace Hotel is one of Turkiye's few hotels which have been assigned special status by the Tourism Ministry , due to its being an unforgettable historical and cultural heritage…


History of Büyükada

There is very little information on settlements on Büyükada before the Byzantian Empire. The most important find on Büyükada, which was probably settled in the Antique Ages, is the Büyükada Treasure of gold coins belonging to the Macedonian King Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, near the Greek Orthodox cemetery in the Karacabey district in 1930. The treasure, comprising 207 coins in total, is in the Istanbul Archeological Museum. Büyükada, like the other Istanbul Islands (Prince Islands)was famous for its prisons and monasteries during the 7 centuries of Byzantian rule. During this time, due to contentions for the throne and conflicts of political and religious nature, princes, princesses, men of the church were exiled to Büyükada and subjected to horrible tortures. About six weeks before the conquest of Istanbul by the Turks and during the siege of the city by Mehmet the Conqueror, Baltaoðlu Süleyman Bey captured Kİnalİada, Burgazada and Heybeliada with a fleet. Büyükada, which had a fort, held out slightly longer.

eace reigned after the conquest of the islands by the Turks. The local people earned a living by fishing and farming, while the monks in the monasteries continued their lives of reproducing hand written religious books. The Turkish people started settling on the islands when small vessels started runs to the islands in 1846. The run became regular with the arrival of larger vessels in 1875, after which the population of the islands rose rapidly. The islands became popular with foreigners as well as rich Turks, and mansions, villas, hotels, buildings reflecting the architectural styles of the times, churches and a mosques were built. In 1861, the Islands Municipality Organization, known as the 7th Department, one of the first three municipality councils, was formed, and based at Büyükada. The island sustained considerable damage during the earthquake in 1894, and the market fire at the beginning of the 1900’s. After 1945, there has been an increase in the number of Turks coming to the island for the summers, and building has spread along the shore from the vicinity of the boat landing and into the foothills. Büyükada, declared a protection area in 1984, retains the distinction of being one of the most exclusive places in Istanbul.


General Information - Guide

Büyükada is the city center of the 9 islands of Istanbul. It has a surface area of 5,400 square meters, and a population of 7,320 as of the year 2000. This population increases 10 to 15-fold during summer months. Most of the buildings are only used as holiday homes during summer. The island comprises two hills, 164 meters high İsa Tepesi (Hristos) in the north and 202 meters high Yüce Tepe (Aya Yorgi) in the south.

FOLIAGE
When the foliage of Büyükada outside the settled areas is studied, it can be seen that coniferous forests (Pinus brutia Ten.)with Mediterranean scrub ground cover is widespread. The only tree species forming forests on the island are red pines. As the island is on the northmost border of the natural domain of red pines in Turkey, the soil cover is very shallow, and the trees have been under human influence for centuries, the individual trees are misshapen and stunted.

The second type of native foliage on the island is Mediterranean scrub. Mediterranean scrub is the most characteristic among the plant life on the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The Mediterranean scrub elements secondarily formed on the island are quite tall. On the other hand, on the settled areas of the island, many exotic plants have adapted to the conditions.