Sultan Abdülmecid I ordered Dolmabahçe Palace, and Garabet Balyan, his son Nigoğayos Balyan and Evanis Kalfa designed it. Building began in 1843 and finished in 1853. The article describes eclectic Baroque, Rococo and Neoclassical elements blended with Ottoman architecture. The cost was about five million Ottoman lira, or 35 metric tons of gold.
The floor area is about 484,000 square feet (45,000 m²), with 285 rooms, 46 halls and six hammams. The Ceremonial Hall covers about 21,500 square feet (2,000 m²) under a 118-foot (36 m) dome. Its chandelier, with 750 lamps and 4.5 metric tons of weight, was long thought a gift from Queen Victoria, but a receipt found in 2006 shows the sultan paid for it. The Crystal Staircase is Baccarat crystal, brass and mahogany.
Atatürk died here at 9:05 a.m. on November 10, 1938, in a bedroom in the former harem area. The clock in that room still shows 9:05.
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