Hasan Pasha Pavillion And Garden

Although its date of construction remains unknown, Hasan Pasha Pavillion’s architectural resemblance to Sofa (Mustafa Pasha) Pavillion in the Lala Garden of the Topkapı Palace, which reached its final state in 1752, brings to mind the possibility that the pavillion is dated to mid-to-second half of the 18th century. Located on the southern border of the garden, which bears the same name, the pavillion covers a rectangular area that stretches in the east-west direction. The portion of the pavillion, which brims over the retaining wall on the east, is supported by pillars (or timber masts) set in the lower level. Covered with a hipped roof, the eastern façade of the pavillion includes eight windows in a double row; the lower row windows are rectangular in form, whereas the upper row windows are arched. While the exact features of the structure’s plan remain obscure, it is likely to have been removed either after the 1862 Sarayburnu fire, or during the railway construction in 1871.

Located behind the New Garden, to the north of Hasan Pasha Pavillion, this garden also bears imprints of French garden designs. In Melling’s Topkapı Palace plan, there appears a baroque pool at the centre of a circular clearing as well as pathways that surround it in the east-east and north-south directions, along with rectangular flower beds with corners that are bevelled with quadrants. A miniature pavillion referred to as “Marble Throne” is located on the raised terrace of the garden’s sea (east) direction.