No visitor to Istanbul should miss Topkapı Palace. It is immense and immensely beautiful. Mehmed the Conqueror (ruled 1444–46 and 1451–81) began its construction in 1459, just six years after he had conquered Constantinople for the Turks. It was originally called the New Palace to distinguish it from the older palace, which itself had only been completed in 1458 and was already too small. The old palace was in the Beyazit neighbourhood, close to where Istanbul University now stands. Topkapı is farther east, towards the end of the peninsula, and as such has a commanding position and magnificent views of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. The name ‘Topkapı’ means ‘Cannon Gate’, a name that arose only in the 19th century.
From the mid-15th to the mid-19th centuries, Topkapı was the administrative capital of the Ottoman Empire. In 1856 Sultan Abdulmejid I moved his residence to the Dolmabahçe Palace, a magnificent building right on the Bosphorus. Dolmabahçe remained the palace of the Sultans until the end of the Ottoman empire in the early 20th century. We may give you a report on this one in a future post.
Topkapı is a massive construction. There are hundreds of rooms, only a fraction of which are open to the public. Even so, it takes several visits to see everything on display. (Which is ok by us; we’re meanderers!) And then there is the pleasure simply of wandering around in its beautiful gardens and courtyards.
The palace consists of three courtyards. The first courtyard, the largest, was the most public one. Today it contains the remains of the imperial mint and the church Hagia Irene or Eirene, the Greek word for ‘peace’. It commemorated the peace of God and was one of three Byzantine churches named for the divine aspects. The others were Hagia Sophia (divine wisdom) and Hagia Dynamis (divine power). Hagia Eirene is the only Byzantine church in Istanbul that was never converted into a mosque. Not for sentimental reasons, however: until 1826 it served as an armoury!
Inside the second courtyard are the more public buildings of the empire’s administration. Here you also find the remains of the palace’s hospital, kitchens, workshops, and stables. There are extensive displays of cookware, ceramics, and – most amazingly – the numerous implements for serving coffee throughout the palace. We have never seen so many coffee pots in one place! (Coffee was introduced to the empire during the reign of Süleyman, ca. 1540.) In this courtyard there are also the Imperial Council meeting place and the Imperial Treasury. Since there is a treasury building also in the Third Courtyard, this one is known as the ‘outer treasury’. Additional galleries display numerous arms and European clocks, the latter a particular favourite of the Sultans.
The third courtyard has the Sultan’s private residences, but it also includes the Hall of Petitions. Here the Sultan received ambassadors and the like. There are numerous other smaller, beautiful pavilions. Also here is the (inner) Imperial Treasury, which has an enormous display of all sorts of treasures. Perhaps the most famous one is the Topkapı Dagger, with three enormous emeralds on the hilt and diamonds on its golden scabbard. The world’s fourth-largest diamond, the Spoonmaker’s Diamond, is also here. There is always a long queue to get into this museum. But if you don’t feel like waiting, you can enjoy yourself away from all the glitz just by walking around the beautiful fountains and serene gardens. There are also fabulous views of the city and the sea from the ramparts.
You can take a separate tour through the harem (it costs an additional 100 lira; well worth it) and see its many beautiful pathways, rooms, courtyards, and baths. Here you find the Golden Road, the path along which the concubine chosen by the Sultan for that night would be led to his private chamber. And here too was the Imperial Hall, a beautifully adorned room where the Sultan, seated on his special throne, would watch and listen to the entertainments.
Although we’ve already been several times to Topkapı, we continue to find it an amazing and evocative place. There’s lots on our to-do list before we leave Istanbul, but we’ll almost certainly pay it one more visit before we bid it adieu. (Not least because Laurel is setting a novel there…)
