Ottoman daily found inside wall of Dolmabahçe Palace

Newspaper fragments from 1917 were found inside the wall plaster during a restoration work at the Dolmabahçe Palace's Süfera Salonu (the Ambassador's Hall) in Istanbul on Jan. 23.

The newspapers were used as filling materials during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed Reşad in 1909-1918.

The legible parts of the newspaper pages tell stories about the Ottoman Empire's first two planes, and that the latter travelled from Beirut to Damascus safely.

While the printing date of the Ottoman newspaper is estimated to coincide with the early 1910s, a French daily fragment reads the date 1917.

During the restoration works in one of the halls of the palace, a sketch of a male portrait was also found behind the layers of paint on the wall.

The portrait, which appears to have been drawn with oil paints, is thought to be a souvenir left by the palace engravers.

"The artisans who made the decoration work of that period used the walls like a painting palette," said Cem Eriş, the head of the restoration department of the National Palaces.

Walls like a painting palette

According to the details related to the restoration at the time of Sultan Mehmed Reşad, it is understood that the male portrait, which was found under the layers of paint on the wall in the rooms 30 and 32, was drawn with oil paint, and the sketch-shaped portrait is thought to have been made by the palace calligraphers.

In addition, it was revealed that the newspaper pieces were used as filling materials. It is written in the newspaper pieces, containing Ottoman and French news, that the "Ottoman" and "Prince Celaleddin" planes, the first planes of the Ottoman Empire, successfully carried out 40-minute flights.

"Our restoration...