NOV 15, 2021, MONDAY:

Topkapi palace, Turkish and Islamic Arts museum

Topkapi Palace was home to all the Ottoman sultans until the reign of Abdulmecid I (1839-1860), a period of nearly four centuries. As usual, we walked to Beyazit tram station along the non steep road near Radisson. Lots of cars backed up as opposed to an empty road the previous day, Sunday. We got down at the 2^nd stop Sultanahmet and walked downhill to Topkapi palace. Our istanbul museum pass was accepted.

Unlike typical European palaces, which feature one large building with outlying gardens, Topkapı is a series of pavilions, kitchens, barracks, audience chambers, kiosks and sleeping quarters built around a central enclosure. The great Palace Kitchens on the right (east) as you enter incorporate a dedicated Helvahane (confectionery kitchen). They hold a small portion of Topkapı’s vast collection of Chinese celadon porcelain, valued by the sultans for its beauty but also because it was reputed to change color if touched by poisoned food.

There is a display of Islamic art, with opulent courtyards lined with intricate hand-painted tilework, linking a warren of sumptuously decorated rooms, all bounded by battlemented walls and towers.

Of the many highlights here, the most popular are the Harem complex (where the sultan's many concubines and children would spend their days); the Second Court, where you can walk through the vast palace kitchens and see the dazzling interior of the Imperial Council Chamber; and the Third Court, which contained the sultan's private rooms.

The Third Court also displays an impressive collection of relics of the Prophet Muhammad in the Sacred Safekeeping Room and is home to the Imperial Treasury, which is closed now.

As we entered we were faced with the choice of kitchens or harem. We went toward the harem.

This is the Tower of justice.

Topkapi Palace's secret path to the city. The 'Horse Ramp', which the sultans used to go out of the palace in disguise to mingle with the people,

The inner gate that separates the Harem of Topkapı Palace from the Karaağalar Taşlığı. The word " Tawhid ", which means "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah" , is written in Celi Thuluth calligraphy on the door

Pertinent explanation about HAREM...

The harem started with a dormitory, eunuchs courtyard, hamam etc. The tile work is intricate but we did not feel the WOW FACTOR There were a lot of detailed explanations in English as well at all pavilions... so welcome.

IMPERIAL HALL

SULTAN'S PRIVAYE CHAMBERS

MOSQUE

Ağalar MOSQUE

Located adjacent to the Privy Room, the Mosque of the Aghas of the Inner Palace was built in the time of Sultan Mehmed II for use by the sultan, the white eunuchs, and the pupils of the Inner Palace school. As the palace’s oldest, largest, and most central mosque, it was placed diagonally to the courtyard because it had to face in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca. Its interior is decorated with early 17th-century Iznik tiles as well as 18th-century tiles produced in the workshops established at the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Tekfur Sarayı). Currently, the Mosque of the Aghas of the Inner Palace is used as the Topkapı Palace Library. Among the many invaluable manuscripts found here are not only works in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, but also manuscripts written in Greek and in Slavic languages.