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| Me at entrance to Topkapi Palace |
Istanbul (previously known as Byzantium and Constantinople) has had a great lineage of Sultans. From about 1478 to 1850, the Sultans and their families lived in Topkapi Palace. After this a new palace was constructed and, they moved to the Dolmabahce Palace which was occupied by the Royal family until 1938. So, I visited the Topkapi Palace and the next day, the Dolmabahce Palace. They are very different from each other, especially in looks. But internal affairs appear to have had some similarities.
The Topkapi palace seems to be number 1 on every tourist's list to do. So, early that morning Ely, Steve and I got in before the crowds to enjoy the sights and imagine the life of a Sultan.
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| Tile detail |
Topkapi Palace has a distinct Turkish flair to it. It has domed ceilings and gardens. A big attraction here is the Harem which means "a place forbidden". i.e. it's the place where the Sultan's family stayed or otherwise known as the woman's quarter. It is a complex series of rooms and courtyards where the woman stayed according to rank. The top of the woman was the Sultan's mother who was in charge of this section. There were a number of concubines and a number of wives. The Sultan's Mother's room is the most opulent and is between the Sultan's chambers and that of his wives. i.e. she can monitor the comings and goings. A little awkward if you ask me! Oh, and I forgot to say - the women were guarded by big muscular eunuchs from Africa (often Etheopia).
Topkapi Palace has a distinct Turkish flair to it. It has domed ceilings and gardens. A big attraction here is the Harem which means "a place forbidden". i.e. it's the place where the Sultan's family stayed or otherwise known as the woman's quarter. It is a complex series of rooms and courtyards where the woman stayed according to rank. The top of the woman was the Sultan's mother who was in charge of this section. There were a number of concubines and a number of wives. The Sultan's Mother's room is the most opulent and is between the Sultan's chambers and that of his wives. i.e. she can monitor the comings and goings. A little awkward if you ask me! Oh, and I forgot to say - the women were guarded by big muscular eunuchs from Africa (often Etheopia).
This is the Buckingham Palace of Turkey. Opulent, gorgeous, lots of gold and mother of pearl and especially it is known for its patterned tiles. They are absulutely stunning. They date from 15th centuary to about 18th centuary, depending on reconstructions required. It is obvious that the Turkish were the master craftsmen of the era. The trade capital. There is so much amazing stuff that they created from so early on! I mean thinking back to the prior blog, I believe that for a while the Hagia Sophia was the largest building known in the world.
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| All tiles |
Just to give you an idea of the scale of the Topkapi Palace, just the Harem (which is only the private section of the palace) is made up of 300 rooms, 9 Turkish baths, 2 mosques and a hospital. i.e. it's pretty big.
There were a number of other rooms as well - the treasure room, a room where the wardrobe of the Sultan, and his family was shown, a room of islamic relics and the gardens with a terrace for the Sultan. All interesting and very different to South Africa.
After saying goodbye to Ely and Steve I went out that night and took some photos of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia which I want to share... The blog continues after...
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| Hagia Sophia |
Left is the Hagia Sophia and below is the Blue Mosque.
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| The Blue Mosque |
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| The enterance to the Dolmache Palace |
The Dolmache Palace is very different to the Topkapi Palace. It’s got a distinctly French flavour to it. It also has a Harem where the woman lived and the top four wives lived in luxury apartments. But the guide indicated that they were not allowed outside onto the grounds. Only later in history with the Sultan’s permission were they allowed to wonder around a bit.
I mean there is everything at this palace – it is huge. They even have an aviary with a bird hospital attached. Luxury. The most impressive thing was the main hall inside and the ton worth of chandelier hanging from the massive domed ceiling. The room is completely decorated - the roof painted with little bowls of fruit and flowers and patterns. There are a number of huge marble pillars lining the side of the hall. I have to say the first time you enter the hall it is definitely a wow moment that takes your breath away. The Harem and how it functioned is very interesting. Again, the Sultan’s mother is in control of the Harem. We asked what happens if the mother dies. It seems that there has never been a Sultan without a mother!Church on Sunday:
My sister did some research for me on churches in Istanbul and she found a tiny Protestant Church attached to the Dutch Consulate (The Union Church of Istanbul). I took the tram over the river and tried to find the next tram only to find that they had been stopped due to May day demonstrations. So I started walking up a really steep hill and every now and again came across groups of Turkish people with banners and horns and drums all heading beyond the church to Taksim Square which was going to hold a huge protest. At the top of the hill there was a police cordon and they were searching everyone that came onto the street. Tanks and everything in the background. They were taking no chances. Similar to South Africa I suppose. I played lost tourist and got through no problems. It was still quiet as it was early. I eventually found the little side road and went through another Police barrier and saw a tiny sign pointing to the church. I’m not too sure if the church normally has a metal detector or whether this was a special May day additional security precaution. I then found my way into a tiny chapel. As I entered, the two people on the worship team were practicing and were playing a hymn that is one of my favourites. I have to say that moment took my breath away. The chapel looked really old and could seat maybe 80 - 100 people max. There were about 40 of us there (most of the normal congregation was absent due to the protests). The service was in English, but they also have Chinese, Turkish and East African services. It was amazing that I flew half way around the world and knew all but one song that they sung!
My sister did some research for me on churches in Istanbul and she found a tiny Protestant Church attached to the Dutch Consulate (The Union Church of Istanbul). I took the tram over the river and tried to find the next tram only to find that they had been stopped due to May day demonstrations. So I started walking up a really steep hill and every now and again came across groups of Turkish people with banners and horns and drums all heading beyond the church to Taksim Square which was going to hold a huge protest. At the top of the hill there was a police cordon and they were searching everyone that came onto the street. Tanks and everything in the background. They were taking no chances. Similar to South Africa I suppose. I played lost tourist and got through no problems. It was still quiet as it was early. I eventually found the little side road and went through another Police barrier and saw a tiny sign pointing to the church. I’m not too sure if the church normally has a metal detector or whether this was a special May day additional security precaution. I then found my way into a tiny chapel. As I entered, the two people on the worship team were practicing and were playing a hymn that is one of my favourites. I have to say that moment took my breath away. The chapel looked really old and could seat maybe 80 - 100 people max. There were about 40 of us there (most of the normal congregation was absent due to the protests). The service was in English, but they also have Chinese, Turkish and East African services. It was amazing that I flew half way around the world and knew all but one song that they sung!
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| View from top of Galata Tower |
Other things explored:
Galata Tower – one of the oldest towers in the world. Originally built in 528 AD and then rebuilt over the centuries due to fires.
Underground Cisterns:This was very impressive! Really beautiful and lit with slightly orange lighting. Over 300 hundred marble pillars whose base is still in water to this day. This was used to supply clean water to the palace and surrounding neighbourhood.
But what I find really interesting is that two columns have the face of Medusa. I knew it was a legend, but these columns were built in the Roman era in the 6th century –now I’ve seen real evidence of this legend! There are a number of legends about Medusa. One of the stories is that Medusa was a girl who was proud of her black eyes and long hair. She was in love with Perseus, the son of Zeus. But the goddess Athene was also in love with him. She was jealous and turned Medusa’s hair into snakes and cursed her eyes.
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| Medusa's heads - see the one in the background too? |
One pillar has Medusa’s face upside down and the other on its side. They think it was placed like that for a specific reason. The audio guide was a bit vague as to what the reason was exactly though.
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| The tiny town we visited - see the castle? |
A trip up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea:
A 6 hour round trip which was lovely just to see the extent of Istanbul. We travelled for about an hour and a half on a tourist Ferry. It was all Istanbul until right near the end where we stopped at a tiny town. There was time to climb the hill to the local ruined castle. The climb was quite steep and on the race up the hill to get there before the crowds (although a number of people on the Ferry looked like the would never survive climbing this local hill), I met a couple from the UK which I got chatting to. The castle was a couple of towers and walls. Lovely views though. Looking to the Black Sea you could not see the point that was the horizon. It looked like some of the ships were sailing in the air.
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| The castle |
After the climb there was not much to do but have lunch and wait for the ferry to return. This was rather fun as we teamed up. I was greatful as they had a guidebook of the area and I no longer was wondering around like a lost soul. They also suggested (via the guidebook) a really good resturant in Istanbul for dinner.
Later, I decided to try their suggestion with my Canadian friends - it was absolutely amazing and the prices were about the same as many other average resturants out there. I plan to go back if my budget can afford it! I had a really tasty lamb dish with an aubergine based something around it.
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| View of the Black Sea |
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| View back towards Istanbul |
That’s all for Istanbul. I was then off to Cappadocia to see the fairy castles (huge rock formations with tons of caves in them) and the underground cities. These cities can house about 600 people comfortably underground – some have 16 stories going down!
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