The hilltop site of these royal lodges overlooking the Bosphorus is between the districts of Levent and Ayazaga on the European shore. Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839) first had a pavilion constructed here, and Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) lived in the later pavilion as a young man. Exactly when the royal lodges were constructed and by whom is unknown, but most can be roughly dated to the reign of Abdulaziz (1861-1876).Set in a wooded park with an area of 170,000 square metres, the
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