3rd International Istanbul Opera Festival

Yıldız Palace, was made for Mihrişah Sultan who was Sultan Selim the III(1789-1807)’s mother, and used as Ottoman Empire’s main palace especially within the period of Sultan Abdülhamit the II (1876-1909). It is placed in now Beşiktaş district. It hasn’t got a uniform structure such as Dolmabahçe Palace, it is a complex of palaces, pavillons, administration, security, service buildings and parks inside a garden and a grove covering all hillside begining from Marmara sea coast, rising through northwest to backline.
This region became a hunting place for sultans, starting from the age of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman (Süleyman the Magnificent)(1520 – 1566). It is not clear whether area of palace covers or not, but probably the gardens and groves called "Civan Kapucıbaşı Bahçesi", "Kazancıoğlu Bahçesi" were included in Yıldız Palace area. These gardens was involved among Sultan gardens in the age of Ahmed the I (1603-1617).
After that, a lot of buildings were added to the region in different times when needed. Those places which could be considered as one of the most enviably constructed buildings of their age, made that place a living area according to its structure.

It is told that Sultan II.Abdülhamid moved to Yıldız Palace, because of safety after leaving Dolmabahçe Palace where experienced two revolutions in 1876 with emotional reasons. In the age of Sultan II. Abdülhamit Han Yıldız Palace became a main centre of political administration and it surpassed Bab-ı Ali where governmental units were located and which comprised the fundamental line of political life during Tanzimat period. In 1882, Royal court which ordered execution for Mithad Pasha and Mahmut Celaleddin Pasha was held in Yıldız Palace and it called Yıldız Court because of this. After that, Yıldız Palace was introduced a place emmitting fear and trick, by anti – Abdülhamit press intentionally and because of this, in a limited period using “yıldız” word in Ottoman press was stricted by cencorship administration, for politic reasons. After Sultan Abdülhamit was discrown in 1909 with 31 Mart Vakası (31st March Event), the palace was plundered and partially burned. It is told that the people who gave Abdülhamit some intelligence or worked as police agent had looked for those documents and tried to remove them, during this plundering action.