Dolmabahçe Palace, the elegant palace of the Bosphorus, is one of the most magnificent symbolic structures of the Ottoman Empire’s changing 19th century identity.
I was at the opening party for Eurovision in 2004 in this very palace… What a magnificent interior to walk through, it blew me away!
archineeringsays
From wikipedia:
>The construction cost five million Ottoman gold lira, or 35 tonnes of gold, the equivalent of ca. $1.5 billion in today’s (2013) values. This sum corresponded to approximately a quarter of the yearly tax revenue. Actually, the construction was financed through debasement, by massive issue of paper money, as well as by foreign loans. The huge expenses placed an enormous burden on the state purse and contributed to the deteriorating financial situation of the Ottoman Empire, which eventually defaulted on its public debt in October 1875, with the subsequent establishment in 1881 of financial control over the "sick man of Europe" by the European powers.
youloveramadana says
I was at the opening party for Eurovision in 2004 in this very palace… What a magnificent interior to walk through, it blew me away!
archineering says
From wikipedia:
>The construction cost five million Ottoman gold lira, or 35 tonnes of gold, the equivalent of ca. $1.5 billion in today’s (2013) values. This sum corresponded to approximately a quarter of the yearly tax revenue. Actually, the construction was financed through debasement, by massive issue of paper money, as well as by foreign loans. The huge expenses placed an enormous burden on the state purse and contributed to the deteriorating financial situation of the Ottoman Empire, which eventually defaulted on its public debt in October 1875, with the subsequent establishment in 1881 of financial control over the "sick man of Europe" by the European powers.