Şevkiye Pavillion

Şevkiye Pavillion was commissioned by Selim III (1789-1808) in honour of his mother Mihrişah Valide Sultan (d. 1805) during the initial years of his reign (between 1789 and 1791). Originally located on the left (south) of Topkapısı Waterfront Palace, Şevkiye Pavillion was removed from the area either during the 1862 Sarayburnu fire or in the course of the railway construction in 1871. The structure is also known as “Serdab Pavillion” and “Yeni Köşk” (New Pavillion). Set on the city walls and facing west (the Anatolian shore), the structure is comprised of two storeys. The ancient Turkish architectural design centred on a main hall and a liwan is implemented with a Western Baroque influence on the timber-walled main floor, which is located at the same level as the new garden in the back. The divanhane (audience hall), which traverses the structure on the east-west axis, is comprised of a domed oval hall and a liwan with divans that intersect it from the west. The liwans in the north and south are isolated from the hall and are transformed into chambers with alcoves. Hidden below the lead-covered hipped roof ornate with beams that spread from an oval centre to the skirts of the dome, the depressed dome of the hall is inspired by the French Directoire style. S. H. Eldem is of the opinion that in the oval hall design, which was common in Ottoman housing architecture until the third quarter of the 19th century, was implemented for the first time in the construction of this particular pavillion.