Day 12: Istanbul, Day 2
Trip Start
Jul 05, 2008
1
11
14
Trip End
Jul 19, 2008
Istanbul,
Turkey
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Topkapi Palace was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans for over 300 years. Topkapi Palace was created on the orders of Mehmed II, the 23-year-old sultan who captured the Roman city of Constantinople in 1453 and made it the capital of his mighty Ottoman empire, under the new name of Istanbul. The layout of the palace features a series of interconnected courtyards which progress inwards, from the first, which was open to all citizens, through to the fourth, where the sultans had their gardens and harem and private living area. For this visit, we got an audio tour. The place is huge. I've linked to information on it so if you so desire you can read more about it. I'll just mention a few of the things.
Our first stop was the Harem. The harem was the private zone of the palace, where the mother and siblings of the sultan, the other members of the family, and the concubines and eunuchs who served this large family lived. The concubines serving the sultan and his family were chosen from among the most beautiful and healthy girls of different races or they were presented to the court as gifts.
These girls came to the harem at a very early age and were brought up under strict discipline. After they became thoroughly acquainted with the customs of the palace, they were separated into different groups.
Palace
Those who could attract the attention of the sultan had the chance of becoming his wife. It wasn't the place of romance and sensual pleasure. It was a highly competitive and cut-throat environment. Women plotted, poisoned and knifed their way up the harem hierarchy. If a woman managed to give birth to a future sultan, she became a very powerful woman. Two sultans had the entire harem drowned -one because he was bored and one because he was paranoid. The paranoid one would sit on the walls of the palace and take pot shots with a crossbow at those passing by. The 30% chance of showers turned into a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning. Fortunately, most of the Palace had covered walkways. (I did have a small umbrella). We visited each building. Some of the highlights were the Treasury: a Koran bound in jade; the Topkapi dagger, which while breathtaking with its three huge emeralds (one of which conceals a watch face) is totally impractical for use as a dagger; and my personal favorite of totally useless items that every fashionably dressed sultan should have: a set of diamond encrusted chain mail. The most valuable single item is the 86-carat pear-shaped Spoonmaker Diamond. The story goes that in the year 1669, a very poor man found a pretty stone in the rubbish heap of Egrikapi in Istanbul. He bartered it to a spoon maker for three wooden spoons. Eventually, the Sultan got it.
Another interesting part was the Sacred Relics building. In here, if one is to believe the signs, are David's sword, Moses' staff, a cooking pot of Abraham, Joseph's turban, John the Baptist's hand and skull and a tooth, beard hair and footprint of Mohammed. Seeing as the selling of sacred relics was a lucrative business, I am a bit skeptical that I actually saw Moses' rod etc.
Had it not been raining, we would have seen some fantastic views of the Bosporus and Golden Horn. We decided to go back to the ship since we weren't all that dry and it was a bit chilly. We were going to take the Public train, but they wouldn't take Euros. It stopped raining, so we walked back to the shuttle stop and went back to the ship, giving up seeing the Spice Market. We went to the Bistro on board and had a coffee and a snack since we hadn't had any lunch.
Entertainment that evening was a nonstop 70 minute musical tour of 29 different countries complete with slides by a pianist, with the accompaniment of a drummer and bass player. It was well done and he deserved the standing ovation we gave him. Being Turkish, he gave a narration when we cruised through the Dardanelles, which I will highlight when I do tomorrow's sea day.
