Khedive Palace

The Khedive's Palace - Hidiv Kasri in Turkish - sits high above the Asian shore of the Bosphorus at Cubuklu, overlooking Istanbul. It was built in 1907 for Abbas Hilmi II, the last Khedive of Egypt and Sudan under Ottoman suzerainty, who wanted a summer retreat with a Bosphorus view. The Italian architect Delfo Seminati designed an Art Nouveau villa with marble fountains, a circular entrance hall and a slender belvedere tower. After decades of neglect the city of Istanbul restored it in 1984 and reopened it as a restaurant and cafe. Today visitors come for Turkish coffee under the pines, for the view of the second Bosphorus bridge and for an unusually quiet atmosphere far from the busy historic peninsula.