Firefighters rushed to the scene as a fire broke out in a section of the Ottoman-era Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul early Friday. Crews from the fire departments of Beşiktaş and Beyoğlu near the palace put out the fire in a short time while cooling efforts and an investigation are underway.
Media outlets reported that the fire erupted at a carpentry workshop where historic artifacts are restored and stemmed from a compressor used there.
Dolmabahçe is among “newest” Ottoman palaces on Istanbul’s European side. Situated on the coast of Bosporus, the palace opened in 1856 and serves as a museum today. The third largest Ottoman palace in Istanbul, Dolmabahçe, which received its name from “dolma” (filled-in – in reference to land reclaimed from the sea for construction) covers an area of 250,000 square meters. It was the last palace used by Ottoman sultans and was also the last abode of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey who died in a room of the palace after a long bout of illness in 1938.
