Ibrahim Pasha Palace

The Ibrahim Pasha Palace (Turkish: İbrahim Paşa Sarayı) is an Ottoman imperial court residence of Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha. It is located in Sultanahmet Square of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey. Currently, the building is mainly used as the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum (Turkish: Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi).

Initially named the Hippodrome Palace due to its location at the Hippodrome of Constantinople, it took later its name from Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha (1494–1536), who served as the Grand Vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520–1566) from 1523 until his execution in 1536.

An important example of 16th-century Ottoman architecture, the building is situated on the grounds of Eastern Roman Empire's historical hippodrome. According to Ottoman historian Solakzade Mehmet Hemdemi Efendi (1590–1657), even the construction date of the palace is not certainly known, it is believed that it coincides to the Sultan Bayezid II era (reigned 1481–1512). It is known that the building underwent repairs in 1521.

The palace saw many events such as civil disorder and revolts aside weddings, festivities and celebrations. After Ibrahim Pasha's strangling, the palace served as residence for other grand viziers, and functioned also as military quarters, embassy, revenue office, quarters for the Ottoman military band, sewing works and prison.

Text adapted from “Ibrahim Pasha Palace” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Ibrahim Pasha Palace ranks #1,583 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #35 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded 1481, it is older than 47% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 454 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 6,972 times in the last 60 days, more than 89% of the atlas. 25 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Istanbul, 1 km away. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.

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