Theoretical reconstruction of the Ottoman palace in Szolnok

The architectural results of the archaeological excavation of the large, rectangular, eastwest oriented Ottoman palace, measuring approximately 18.5×9.0 m, identified in 2018 in the centre of the Early Modern Age castle of Szolnok, were presented in the previous issue of Hungarian Archaeology. This palisaded, representative, two-storey building with two wings, which stood from the second half of the 16th century until 1685/1687 and was built in an architectural style typical of the Ottoman Balkans, was the palace and residence of the actual sanjak-bey (sancakbeyi) of Szolnok. The study provides an overview of the sporadical archaeological, visual, and written sources known from the territory under Ottoman rule, as well as similar buildings and wall structures from Anatolia and the Balkans. The main focus is the presentation of the construction phases and the theoretical reconstruction of the palace in Szolnok. This post-framed building with mud brick walls reinforced with a horizontal beam structure is currently unique in the once-occupied part of Hungary.