This Baroque Palace on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus was built in 1860-65 by Sultan Abdul Aziz as a summer residence and was used by heads of state to entertain important visitors. One such occasion was in 1869, when the Empress Eugenie of France, in Istanbul on her way to the opening of the Suez Canal, was slapped across the face by the sultan’s mother for daring to enter the palace arm-in-arm with Abdul Aziz. Undeterred and nonetheless impressed, the Empress later had a copy of the window in the Beylerbeyi guestroom made for her own bedroom in Paris. Perhaps no greater endorsement of the elegance of the palace needs to be given.