Esma Sultan Mansion

Those who would like to visit Esma Sultan Mansion must go towards Ortaköy. Esma Sultan Mansion, a seaside palace, was also built in Neoclassical style. As is known, the architect of the building was Sarkis Balyan. It is located right next to Ortaköy Mosque. Unfortunately it became unavailable for a long time due to a fire. It was rebuilt in 2001 using steel and glass materials. Today it makes an important contribution to the tourism of the city. The Mansion is named after Esma Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Abdulaziz. When she was only 16, she got married to Çerkez Mehmet Pasha, one of the successful statesmen of that period.

This mansion was presented to Esma Sultan as a wedding gift at that time. The precious mansion from the 1600s was repaired before it was granted as a gift. At that time, this private mansion stood out as the largest wooden building in the Ortaköy region. In the early days when it was gifted to Esma Sultan, this place used to be known as Tırnakçı Mansion. It is known that Hüseyin Pasha previously lived in the same mansion. When Esma Sultan passed away in 1899, this place was granted to her sister, Cemile Sultan. The historical site remained under the dynasty ownership until 1915. Esma Sultan Mansion was availed as a Greek school after 1918; but two years later it had a serious fire.

After the fire, it was used as a tobacco warehouse. It was bought by Saffet Baştimar after the middle of the last century. It was used as a carpentry shop, coal warehouse and furniture warehouse at that time. Since Saffet Baştımar owned this place for a long time, the name of the building is also mentioned as Baştimar Mansion in some sources. By 1975 he put this place up for sale; but it became a ruin due to the fire that occurred in this process. Despite this, the garden part is actively used for concerts and various invitations for a long time. In the 1990s, a famous hotel acquired the building and converted it into the appearance today.