Architecture
MAIDEN
TOWER
The Maiden Tower
was first built by the
ancient Athenian
general Alcibiades in
408 BC to control the
movements of the
Persian ships in the
Bosphorus strait. The
tower was later
enlarged and rebuilt as
a fortress by the
Byzantine emperor
Alexius Comnenus in
1110 AD, and was
rebuilt and restored
several times by the
Ottoman Turks, most
significantly in 1509
and 1763. The most
recent facelift was
made in 1998.
The hotel architecture reflects four distinct designs embracing the famous
trademarks of the city of Istanbul;
DOLMABAHCE PALACE-DA VINCI BRIDGE-MAIDEN
TOWER
The Mardan Palace Hotel is a real museum, which represents brilliant
collection of Turkish and European culture. There is a huge outdoor pool
(16000 square meters) in the centre of the hotel. Its «shores» are joined
by picturesque bridges, the biggest of which is the legendary Da Vinci
Bridge which for the first time embodied the unique project of Leonardo
da Vinci being not realized in the life time of the great Italian.
The Silhouette of the
famous Kuleli building
has been the
architectural
inspiration for the
Anatolian wing.
The pool itself is bordered with water street with luxury “pleasure”
gondolas. Water theme, besides the historic one, is one of the main
conception of the resort. Following the waterfall and basin it is continued
by an amazing swimming reef which is an artificial reservoir 900 square
meters in area, 1.4 sq. in depth and with three hollows up to 2.8 meters
for captivating water excursions with diving. Four aquariums of the
Aquamarine Restaurant imitate ecosystem of the Mediterranean Sea,
Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Red Sea. Besides the Galata Bridge (Da
Vinci) the Mardan Palace Hotel architecture embodies other outstanding
monuments of the Ottoman Empire such as Dolmabahce which is a copy
of the famous Istanbul Maiden Tower. There is also a part of antique
history of Turkey. That is a stylish old Greek Amphitheatre which
impresses with its primitive mystique and beauty. The hotel strikes with
richness of its external and internal decoration. It is necessary to mention
the gold leaf which covers the arches of the building from outside and
inside, wealth of expensive species of wood and crystal and hyaline
marble. It is enough to say that more than 10 thousands square meters
of gold foil, 500 thousands of crystals and 23 thousands square meters
of the Italian marble have been used just in completing work.