Abstract:

The construction of Dolmabahçe Palace which was built on an area exceeding of 110.000m2, with its periphery walls, was completed in 1856. The main building of Dolmabahçe Palace consists of three parts: the Imperial Mabeyn State Apartments , the grand Ceremonial Hall Muayede Salonu and the Imperial Harem where the sultan and his family led their private lives . The Imperial Mabeyn and Harem have three storeys along with the basement. Also, in the Imperial Harem part, there is an attic musandıra storey. The grand Ceremonial Hall is between the Imperial Mabeyn and the Imperial Harem. The outer walls of the palace are made of stone, the interior walls of brick and the floor and roof constructions of wood. The main building stands parallel to the sea and extends towards the south direction. Since the Palace is located on the sea level and filled ground, main walls and floors in the basement were seriously damaged because of the ground water. Ground water contains soluble salts, the most significant of which are chlorides, nitrates and sulphates. The deposit of water soluble salts in the pores of historic masonry is the major cause for the deterioration of these surfaces. Also the basement of the Palace has higher and more variable relative humidity than the other floors. Since water soluble salts are usually hygroscopic, changes in temperature and relative humidity inside the building cause water soluble salts found in the building materials to crystallize and dissolve over and over again. As a result of this process, there can be physical, chemical and mechanical deterioration on the building materials. In order to detect the deterioration and reduce or prevent the damage on the building caused by water soluble salts, the things that should be done primarily are; to detect the distribution and resources of the salt types found in the building. There have been detected damages caused by water soluble salts on the ground and walls of many rooms in the basement by the visual inspections done at the Palace. In the following article, the analyses of water soluble salts and hygroscopic humidity were done on mortar, plaster and stone samples taken within the insulation studies that have been started on the ground and walls of the places aiming to prevent the humidity rising from the ground on the basement at Dolmabahçe Palace in 2000 and the results were evaluated

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