Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul

Although we had to queue for two hours in various locations in the palace grounds we spent the day looking over the beautiful Dolmabahce (pronounced dolmabachay) Palace which was the summer holiday palace for the sultans from the Ottoman Empire.  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk also used this palace when he stayed in Istanbul and also died in one of the bedrooms in 1938. It poured with rain today so the pictures of this palace are downloaded from the net just to give you an idea of the opulence.

The chandelier in the main reception room weighs 4 tonnes and is magnificent.