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Edirne Palace, once the residence of Ottoman sultans, was built starting in 1450 under Sultan Murad II and completed by Mehmed the Conqueror in 1475. Located by the Tunca River, it served as a royal complex during Edirne’s time as the empire’s capital.
Over time, sultans like Suleiman the Magnificent and Ahmed III expanded the palace, adding pavilions, bathhouses, and gardens. At its height, it had 72 buildings, 14 mansions, 18 bathhouses, 8 mosques, and housed over 34,000 people. The central building was the seven-story Cihannüma Pavilion, featuring the sultan’s quarters and library.
After 1718, the palace was largely abandoned, damaged by earthquakes, fires, and wars. It was almost entirely destroyed during the 1877–78 Russo-Turkish War. Only a few structures, like the Justice Pavilion (Kasr-ı Adalet) and parts of the Imperial Kitchen, Sand Pavilion Bathhouse, and Hunting Lodge, remain.
Today, archaeological and restoration efforts are underway to revive the palace, with some sections already restored and open for public use.
References:Rosenborg Palace was built in the period 1606-34 as Christian IV’s summerhouse just outside the ramparts of Copenhagen. Christian IV was very fond of the palace and often stayed at the castle when he resided in Copenhagen, and it was here that he died in 1648. After his death, the palace passed to his son King Frederik III, who together with his queen, Sophie Amalie, carried out several types of modernisation.
The last king who used the place as a residence was Frederik IV, and around 1720, Rosenborg was abandoned in favor of Frederiksborg Palace.Through the 1700s, considerable art treasures were collected at Rosenborg Castle, among other things items from the estates of deceased royalty and from Christiansborg after the fire there in 1794.
Soon the idea of a museum arose, and that was realised in 1833, which is The Royal Danish Collection’s official year of establishment.