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2008-30-05 Topkapi palace
Topkapi Palace was the first stop on our schedule today. Between 1459 and 1465 Mehmett II build this palace to be his primary residence shortly after the conquest of Constantinople. At first it served as the seat of government and had a school where civil servants and soldiers were trained. In the 16th century the government was moved. Sultan Abdul Mecid abandoned Topkapi in 1853 because he preferred the Dolmabache Palace (we will visit this next week).
The sultan had many women that were at his beck and call for whatever he needed or whatever needed to be done. They lived in the Harem which was a part of the palace that contained many MANY rooms where his wives and “slaves” lived. Apart from the sultan’s mother, the most powerful woman in the Harem, and the sultan’s daughters, the women of the Harem were slaves gathered from the furthest corners of the Ottoman Empire. They were all competing to become the sultan’s favorite and have his son because that might lead to marriage.
I was listening to a tour guide and he said that most people think these women were sex slaves. That is not true
according to him. They also did tasks such as sewing, house keeping, and cooking. This area was quite nice.
Many treasures from the palace were on display. Diamonds, rubies, and emeralds were very popular when enhancing the everyday items used by royalty. There was a pear shaped diamond that was as big as the palm of my hand that was originally made into a ring (believe it or not) and later turned into an ornament for a turban.
It was truly magnificent. The pictures only begin to show the beauty of this palace.
Construction on the spice bazaar began in 1597 and was completed 67 years later. Many spices could be found here. Cheeses, salami, ceramics, rugs, and other collectables could also be found there. It was nice to look around, but we had our polo’s on that say GSE team and every store person tried to ask us about it to get us into their shop. Next time we go we will not wear our uniforms.
Outside of the Spice Bazaar there is a plant bazaar. Any type of seed or plant can be found there. The roses here are BEAUTIFUL, so Sandy looked for
The ceiling
They were BEAUTIFULsome seeds. Baby chickens, ducks, and rabbits were for sale there too.
The cistern was our last stop for the day. During the Byzantine Empire there was a shortage of water. The cistern was used to collect rain water during a war so the people could fight longer. Without water they would not survive. The Ottomans did not know of the cistern existence. It was rediscovered after the people were found to be collecting water and even fish by lowering buckets through holes in their basements. There are still fish living there today.
In the far left-hand corner two columns rest on Medusa head bases. They are examples of Roman artwork. The short version of the story with medusa is that she had a crush on _________ (another important god who was a ruler). __________ (another girl) found out about it and got jealous, so she cast a spell on Medusa turning her hair into snakes and making it so anyone who looked at her turned to stone. When the ruler heard that she was turning people to stone he cut her head off. He won many battles after he cut her head off by showing the head
View from above
This is a view of a courtyard from an upstairs window to the leaders of his opponents.
One of the Rotarians that was with us said that there had been some discussion about using the cistern to help today’s water problems. Turkey suffers from a water shortage and their reservoir is open to the air. Since the cistern is already built… why not use the “technology” that the Byzantines already constructed.
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