THE Palace to see - Topkapi or Sultanahmet
Trip Start
Apr 25, 2007
1
16
31
Trip End
Jun 20, 2007
Istanbul,
Turkey
Monday, May 14, 2007
Got up early enough to make it to the opening of the Museum Palace (get there early if you don't want to stand in queue forever to visit the Harem). Referred to in historical annals as the Sultanahmet Palace, guide books et al call it the Topkapi Palace Museum.
All I can say is this place is a must visit. The Harem would be better with a tour guide or at least an audio guide which is what we did but your visit would be better enhanced by someone who can bring "life in the harem alive". Otherwise be prepared to do some reading before and after.
The grounds are beautiful, fantastic ceramic tile inlay work to decorate all walls, with strong Persian influences and some Chinese, stained glass windows etc but the collections of the wealth of the Ottoman Empire was stagerring and the best part is that all this is on display to the public....I have never seen precious stones this size, cut and finished to be used as inlay for functional pieces to serve the Sultans, to wear, to sit on, to adorn, to give..
A real crusader sword...if you can lift it!
. jaw dropping! Emeralds and rubies, especially emeralds the size of apples and oranges, more diamonds I can count as well as pearls etc. Their collection of finely hand embroidered textiles used as floor rugs (hand embroidered, not woven) as far east as north Indưa was also amazing not to mention 10,000 pieces of origưnal Ming dynasty porcelain and also collections from Japan. Incidentally, the China collection is the largest outside of China. The bulk of this collection were from the 17th and 18th century which I guess would be the height of Ottoman empire.So while the Palace is beautiful, the Harem is a cultural tour, the Cage where princes of the Sultans were kept until or if they ascended to the throne to rule (very badly) you should definitely go and check out the massive collections of OTT ostentatiousness, excess and treasures!
Made it back to the hotel and caught the tram and ferry to the train station for a 15 hour ride east. Next stop, Cappadocia and fairy chimneys.
