TURKEY TRIP REPORT DAY 5 PART 2: Istanbul Topkapi Palace, Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum

 NEXT WAS THE IMPERIAL ARMOURY.  collection of about 400 weapons (dating between the 7th and the 19th c.) from several countries, including swords of many sultans.

Ceremonial armour of Sultan Mustafa III of the Ottoman Empire, 1757-74.

IMPERIAL COUMCIL

This is ythe grilled window through which the Sultan eavesdropped on council meetings without being seen.

We learned the inner treasury is closed. We left.

walked to Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum from the tram stop

Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum

 located in Sultanahmet Square in Fatih district of Istanbul. Constructed in 1524, the building was formerly the palace of Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, who was the second grand vizier to Suleiman the Magnificent. 

The collection includes notable examples of Islamic calligraphy, tiles, and rugs as well as ethnographic displays on various cultures in Turkey, particularly nomad groups. Today the museum contains some of the finest carpets from the Islamic world as well as over 17,000 manuscripts, plus 3,000 Qur’ans, and 250,000 early Qur’anic fragments from the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, amongst other treasures.

The stonework, most bearing inscriptions, includes examples from the Umayyad, Abbasid, Mamluk, Seljuq and Ottoman periods. .

Tortoise shell and mother of pearl inlay...

The carpets, numbering some 1,700, in their quality and variety constitute one of the most important collections of carpets in the world, 

The ethnographic department is the newest section... it was beautiful

lovely dioramas

ivory combs

awesome carpet with istanbul map

we were chased out at 6 pm as the staff wanted to close the museum.

it had been a great day.

VIDEO LINKS

Topkapi Palace & Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yG4A2urvikiPVyL59

next day we had an early morning flight to Cappadocia. report continues here

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2022/01/turkey-trip-report-day-6-cappadocia.html