Ishak Pasha Palace

Ottoman Era Provincial Palace Completed In 1784, On The UNESCO Tentative List; A Mixture Of Ottoman, Seljuk, Armenian, Georgian And Persian Design · Dogubayazit, Agri

A provincial governor's family spent most of the eighteenth century building this on a rock terrace above the Dogubayazit plain, and the result is one of the most beautiful buildings in Turkiye and one of the least visited. It is a palace in the full sense - selamlik and harem, a mosque, a tomb, kitchens, a library, three hundred and more rooms - and its detail is a deliberate magpie mixture of Ottoman, Seljuk, Armenian, Georgian and Persian, because that is what the region was. It had underfloor heating and its own water supply when much of Europe had neither. The gilded main gate was carried off to Russia and is in the Hermitage. Behind it rises Mount Ararat, and below it the old citadel of Bayazit and a ruined mosque sit on the cliff, which together make the terrace one of the great views in the country. A modern protective roof was added over the ruins and remains controversial. It is also almost always empty.

Eski Bayazit, Ishak Pasa Sarayi, Dogubayazit, Dogubayazit, Agri, Turkiye

Open daily with longer summer hours and an earlier winter close. The approach road climbs above Dogubayazit and can be affected by snow between November and March. There is no shelter on the terrace beyond the building itself. Check locally in winter.

Ishak Pasha Palace on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos