The amazing chandeliers of Europe are something that I will always remember from my first trip to the “old world”. The Dolmabahçe Palace in Islanbul have some particularly fine examples – almost as impressive as the views across the Bosphorous Strait which the Ottoman Emperors enjoyed. We never get to appreciate what these chandeliersd looked llike at the time though – because they weren’t lighted by electricty – but my soft flickering candles (and later gas light). The chandeliers crystals were designed to catch the light and reflect it out around the room – they must really have been a quite magical sight.
Not as magical as the famous Phantom of the Opera chandelier though which appears to come crashing down over the front stalls at the end of the prologue of the famous musical. Based in the Paris Opera house – which surely would have had an impressive centre piece chandelier of its own.
