Dolmabahce Palace

On a visit to Istanbul , Turkey , an excursion almost (but required) is what should be done at Dolmabahce Palace, The ancient center administration of Ottoman Empire until 1922 (see also What to do in Istanbul). Today is a museum and the memory of a historical period where the building served other functions such as guesthouse for state guests. But above all, as a demonstration of power, which are among the most splendid in the region.

The numbers of architectural details may approach the richness disproportionate scale of the palace: 248 bedrooms, 6 Turkish baths or Windows 2700. The area dedicated to the sultan, provided all the facilities where they lived for the harem wives, mothers, and concubines. However, what will be a notable detail is the European style resort, located in what is considered a sister boundary east and west.

Built in 1853 at a cost equivalent to thirty-five tons of gold, expect a palace with extravagant and dazzling detail. Just to decorate the ceiling of the interior of Dolmabahce Palace was spent fourteen tons. In one of the most famous, is the stairway with handrails Baccarat crystal with a double bridle.

In short, get into a visit, will enable us closer to a world of luxury and to excess, in a perfectly preserved and restored palace after the death of Ataturk , the last resident of the Palace and the first president of the modern Republic of Turkey .

The current museum is open daily from 9 to 16 hours, except on Mondays and Thursdays, which remains closed. To anticipate, it is good to know that they are long queues to enter. However, a long wait, also worth the effort.

Monastic atmosphere

Of the 12 Buddhist caves, the most visited are 2, an impressive monastery (vihara) filled with sculptures and the walls of huge windows completely covered with engravings, the 5, a large oblong room which seems to endure the monastic atmosphere , and 10, an elaborate chapel (chaitya) of complex architecture, which features a series of rings in the ceiling and the central stupa with a large seated Buddha figure.

Of the 12 Buddhist caves, the most visited are 2, an impressive monastery (vihara) filled with sculptures

Among the 17 Hindu caves, almost exclusively dedicated to Siva, in its various forms, there are some wonderful, such as 21, separated from the rock by a passage or trench that is surrounding the altar. But, I say, greatness and importance of the 16, Kailasa, overshadows all others, whether of religion are, as already hinted Percy Brown by stating that "the Kailasa temple at Ellora, is not only the most extraordinary work of art in India, but, as architecture in rock, no rival in the world. " It is not only achieved the fantastic spaces at different heights, but the endless collection of sculptures and friezes that adorn high quality all over the walls of the temple.

With the 5 Jain caves began the decline of this art form in stone, which became purely imitative. Cave 30, for example, popularly known as Chota Kailasa, is but a miniature replica of the real Kailasa. Although it is dug up and away from the other caves of the Jain group, the base has no podium or plinth, which degrades its appearance, and their proportions and symmetry are very poor compared to the nearby Hindu temple.

Ellora whole, however, has other values that far exceed the purely aesthetic or artistic and therefore is always full to overflowing with that strange amalgam of visitors, devotees and the curious hybrid, so characteristic of the spiritual centers that have become tourist attractions. Perhaps this is why the Department of Tourism of Maharashtra organized every year in December, the great Ellora Festival of Dance and Classical Music, which takes place in the field that is in front of the caves.

A labor of many centuries

Unlike those of Ajanta , Ellora caves were never lost, nor forgotten, and it took the 'discovered' the English. Its existence has always been known and already mentioned in inscriptions of the time Rashtrakuta and different accounts of Arab and European travelers. Though it lacks the old and the fresco in the former, the quality and refinement of their structures and sculptures believe that far exceed.


The 34 caves at Ellora were excavated in the western foothills of Mount Chandamari, a hill of basalt, about fifteen miles from Aurangabad. What is most remarkable is that, although the caves of every denomination are grouped together, periods during which they were excavated overlap in time. Thus, the group of Buddhist caves, the oldest, numbered 1 through 12 that are in the south, were built between the years 550 to 750, while Hindus numbered 13 to 29 and located in the center flourished 600 to 875, being the Jains, numbered 30 to 34, occupying the northern part of the great basalt slope running north to south, most recently, built between 800 to 1000.

The Ellora caves are still, 1500 years after its construction, a magnetizing power pilgrims of different religions. They match the gray kimonos of Japanese Buddhist monks circumspect, with white robes and feather duster ever charged to shoulder the Jains to clean the place where they will sit, avoiding crushing an insect. The meaning of non-violence of the monks were taken to an extreme to cover your mouth and nose with a mask constantly to the tiniest invisible creatures that are sustained in the air does not suffer the turbulence of his breathing.