Time Out
Immersed in history
NIVEDITA CHOUDHURI
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The Topkapi Palace takes you through a tour of a glorious lifestyle, for it was the heart of the Ottoman empire for 400 years.
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Photos: Nivedita Choudhuri
The entrance to the palace.
For 400 years, Topkapi Palace was the heart of the vast Ottoman empire, ruled by a monarch who lived in Topkapi’s hundreds of rooms with his wives, concubines, children and servants. The interest it holds for visitors now is not just to do with
the place itself, but with the collections that are housed in its acres of courtyards and gardens. If you spend less than a day here, you won’t be doing it justice. As with most of Istanbul’s major sites, finding the place is dead easy. If you wander around a bit in the Sultanahmet area and follow everybody else, you can’t really miss it. You can even rest at the scenic Gulhane Park en route. My husband and I loved the peaceful sanctuary with its soft green grass, tall shady trees and walkways dotted with benches. In fact, we sought refuge there more than once and the best thing about the park was no one ever approached us trying to sell something.
Dramatic view
Perched atop a high peninsula, flanked on one side by the Sea of Marmara and on the other by the bustling Golden Horn, Topkapi Palace enjoys dramatic views up the Bosphorus. Begun on the orders of Sultan Mehmet II following his conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Topkapi was later expanded by his successors as the needs of their day demanded. It was converted into a museum in the 1920s and later opened to the public.
We sauntered through the palace gardens, lush with green trees. However, any photo-ops were ruined as the palace was being renovated and parts of it were covered with drop cloths and wet paint. It had been the same story at Aya Sofya, where scaffolding for a massive restoration programme obscured part of the dome’s interior. What luck!
Elaborate structure
Exquisite workmanship: Stained glass window at the Harem.
The palace was more than just the private residence of the sultan and his court. In the First Courtyard, there were a hospital, a bakery, the State mint and part of the treasury. The Second Courtyard was open to people who had business with the council. The Third Courtyard was reserved for the sultan’s household and the Fourth Courtyard was exclusively reserved for the sultan. We liked the treasury best. It was stunning, to say the least, with its marvellous collection of jewel-encrusted thrones, royal medals and the famous Topkapi Dagger, which was the subject of a film in 1964.
Originally crafted before 1747 as a gift to the Persian king Nadir Shah, the dagger never reached its intended recipient, who was killed in an uprising before the Ottoman emissary crossed the border into Iran. The dagger features three unusually large emeralds in its handle, with an eight-sided emerald cover at its top concealing a small watch. Along both sides of the handle are rows of diamonds, and the back of the handle is covered in mother-of-pearl and enamel.
Pride of Topkapi
We were fortunate to set eyes on the masterpiece. I had heard from a fellow traveller earlier how his friend had found, after travelling all the way from the United States that the dagger had been sent to the U.S. for an exhibition. The pride of Topkapi and its most valuable single exhibit is the 86-carat, teardrop-shaped Spoonmaker’s Diamond. The unusual name has a story behind it: the diamond was reportedly discovered by a poor fisherman in a rubbish heap and sold to a merchant for three spoons.
All the pieces are exhibited in four rooms, which are always packed with people. Sometimes, there was no space to breathe, let alone move around, and many a time I had to stand on my toes and crane my neck for a view of the fabulous gems.
There is an imperial throne from a different era in each room. Ceremonial costumes, weapons, water pipes, Turkish coffee cups and other wares, all of them embellished with gold and precious stones, are the most important items in the first room.
The second hall or the Emerald Room contains a dazzling display of aigrettes and pendants. Uncut emeralds, some weighing several kilograms each, and the Topkapi Dagger are on display here.
The third room contains enamelled objects, medals and decorations of State presented to the sultans by foreign monarchs, twin solid gold candelabras, and the most famous golden throne, which the sultans reportedly used during coronations and religious holidays.
The balcony connecting the third and fourth rooms offers a breathtaking view of the entrance to the Bosphorus and the Asian coast. In the fourth room, a magnificent throne of Indian-Persian origin is on display.
Not everyone was impressed with the treasury though. I heard an Indian lady muttering to her family that the gold could not be genuine and that her time would have been better spent shopping at the Grand Bazar! If you decide to visit the Harem, you have no option but to take a guided tour. Tickets are available at the counter outside the Harem entrance and there are usually lengthy queues in front of it. So, it’s a good idea to head here as soon as you enter Topkapi. We did not see the Harem on our first visit as our tour operator had conveniently scheduled a visit to a museum after the palace and was rushing us through the place from the beginning. Hence, we had to purchase tickets on another day in order to visit the Harem. But, we were certainly not disappointed.
Place of intrigue
Painted tiles inside.
The Harem is a vast labyrinth of rooms and corridors, and only a part of it is open to the public. Palace intrigue in the Harem was rife and it was not rare for one of the sultan’s wives to poison the son of another wife to insure that her son would accede to the throne. The harems of the Turkish rulers were cloaked in mystery and intrigue and inhabitants were totally cut off from the outside world.
The guided tour, however, proved to be quite chaotic as there were around 60 people in the group, including a number of bored children who made their feelings known in no uncertain terms. On top of that, our guide had a rasping voice and each sentence of hers began with “Ladies and gents”. Fortunately, one member of the group corrected her to the relief of the others. Once you’ve been admitted to the Harem, there’s no obligation to go around in the main group. Hang back and let the rest of the tour rush ahead. A guard at the end of the group will ensure that you take the right path around the Harem. Take a good travel book with you, which will in all likelihood provide more information than the guide.
Not to be missed
Don’t miss the royal kitchens and armoury. Topkapi’s kitchens are marvels in their own right with an amazing collection of Turkish, European and Chinese ceramics, glass and silverware. The earliest pieces are Chinese celadon porcelain, particularly valued by the monarchs because it was supposed to change colour when brought into contact with poison.
The sultans abandoned the Topkapi for Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, but left many of their treasures behind. While strolling down the palace’s endless rose gardens, walking along the long corridors of its Harem or viewing the priceless jewels kept in its treasury, one can almost trace steps back in time and imagine a lifestyle that was. Being in Topkapi is being immersed in history.
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