Kucuksu Pavilion (Küçüksu Kasrı) located in the area between Küçüksu and Göksu streams in the Bosphorus, dates back to the Byzantine period. Küçüksu was one of the sultan’s private gardens during the Ottoman period. It is known that Murad IV. (1623-1640) loved it and called it “Silver Cypress”.
During the reign of Sultan Mahmud I (1730-1754), Divitdar Emin Mehmed Pasha built a two-storey wooden palace for the sultan on the seashore of this Hasbahçe. This building was also used in Sultan III. Selim (1789-1807) and Sultan II. Mahmud (1808-1839).
The period of Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-1861) was the years when Western forms were preferred especially in palace and palace architecture. Sultan Abdülmecid, as in Dolmabahçe and Ihlamur buildings, demolished the old and wooden buildings in the area where Küçüksu Pavilion is located and built the today’s pavilion.
Kucuksu Pavilion (Küçüksu Kasrı), the construction of which was completed in 1857, is 15 x 27 m. It was built with masonry technique and masonry on an area. The basement of the pavilion, which has three floors with its basement; The cellar is divided into kitchens and servants, and the other floors are arranged in four rooms opening to a central space. The structure reflecting the traditional Turkish House plan type with this feature is a “boarding pavilion” which is generally used for resting and hunting purposes.
Unlike other state-owned palace structures, it is not surrounded by high walls, but with elegant iron railings made in a cast technique with doors in four directions. During Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876), the facade decorations were enriched by overhauling. Western ornamental motifs were used in the lively sea front decorated with reliefs, in the small pool with the fountain and stairs leaning against this facade.
The rooms and halls are furnished with valuable artworks and furniture ordered from Europe was used. Küçüksu Pavilion, which is a rich art museum with its plaster embossed and carved ornaments ceilings, fireplaces made of Italian marbles in different colors and shapes resembling a fireplace museum, separate decorated and fine workmanship in each room, European style furniture, carpets and paintings, in the Republic period, It is known to have been used as a state guest house for a while.
With a comprehensive restoration project launched in 1992, Küçüksu Pavilion was prevented from slipping into the sea, and it was reopened in 1996 as a museum-palace. In order to make the pier, fountain square and the original garden right next to the pavilion become a promenade where the people can have fun and relax as in the past, cafeteria services are provided around the fountain, and the expanded dock can be allocated to national or international receptions.
