Küçüksu Palace

This small ornamental palace on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus was built in the mid-nineteenth century for Sultan Abdulmecid I as a hunting lodge and summer retreat. Designed by an architect of the Balyan family, its two-storey marble façade is richly carved in a Rococo-influenced Ottoman style and faces the water across a decorative fountain and quay. The compact interior is decorated with painted ceilings, crystal chandeliers and fine parquet floors. Set between two Ottoman fortresses, it exemplifies the late sultans' pleasure pavilions.