Museum of Turkish and Islamic art or contact with Muslim civilizations

rosy440 (60)in #swmchallenge • 6 years ago

Hi friends!

Ramadan holiday in Turkey sometimes brings unexpected surprises. For example, at 23:00 on Sultanahmet square you could walk in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic art. Not for free, of course, but the fact. This is my first visit to the Museum at such a late time.

The Museum of Turkish and Islamic art is located in one of the most beautiful old palaces of the Ottoman Empire.

I can't show the globalism of the historic Palace from the outside. My phone doesn't like night time. And it rained a little outside. It is interesting that the Museum is also a minimum of light. We wandered in the twilight. Maybe not always, but I was very surprised. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic art holds more than 40 thousand exhibits. If you want to learn a little about the history of the Turkish people, be sure to visit it. Even a quick inspection of the exhibits led me to delight. I know for sure, I will definitely go in the daytime to look and explore everything carefully.

The Museum building is renovated, looks like new. On the ground floor there is a souvenir shop where you can buy something for yourself. Today we will see only part of the exhibits, it is impossible to show. I will focus on what attracted my attention.

Now let's talk a little about the Palace. It is located opposite The blue mosque. From the porch you can see the whole area of Sultanahmet. The building has deep historical roots. Here lived the great vizier of the Ottoman Empire Ibrahim Pasha (1493-1536).

The building is in such large corridors in the Ottoman style. On the right there are small rooms, where the exhibits of the Museum are exhibited. This is only one of the many corridors of the second floor. The building was built in the 16th century. In 1938, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic art was located here. Before that, the Museum was huddled in the dining room of the largest mosque in Istanbul Suleymaniye.

The posters of the Museum describe the history of the building and the people who were closely associated with it. But the most important event of the past years is that Sultan Suleiman the Great gave the Palace to the wedding of the vizier Ibrahim Pasha. He married the sister of Suleiman, Hatice Sultan. The story of the rise of Ibrahim Pasha from a slave to a vizier of the Ottoman Empire is simply extraordinary. Sultan Suleiman from childhood was very close to Ibrahim. The future Sultan was bought by Ibrahim in the slave market for service. As you know, in those days, the slave market flourished and was a very profitable business.

In the Ottoman Empire under the Sultan there was no higher position than the vizier. Suleiman gave his childhood friend this title. Once even Sultan Suleiman gave his word to Ibrahim Pasha that he would never be executed while he is in power. But fate turned the other way. For any error, even without understanding, in the Ottoman Empire flew his head off his shoulders. Ibrahim's head was no exception. All property of the vizier was confiscated, including the Palace, where the Museum is located.

Hippodrome of Constantinople is a massive structure. It was the center of political and entertainment life of the capital.

The Museum of Turkish and Islamic art on the ground floor presents pieces of the historic racetrack. The magnificent structure during the Byzantine and Ottoman period was one of the busiest places in The city. It was located to the North of The blue mosque.

Here were running on chariots, the announcement of Imperial laws and decrees. The Racecourse was attended by about 40 thousand spectators. It was a large-scale building, which all at that time led to admiration. During the reign of Justian I (527-565), the racetrack was expanded. It received up to 60 thousand visitors.

Now in the Museum we can see parts of this splendor. During the Ottoman period, the name of the Racetrack was changed to Atmeidan. That means the area of the horses. The square hosted ceremonies, weddings, sports competitions. "I saw" the area and different revolts, and national gatherings. During the revolt of the Nika in 532, the Emperor Justinian nearly lost his throne.

Before the stone racetrack there was a racetrack made of wood. He looked much more modest. In 203, the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus ordered the construction of a stone racetrack. After that, the building was rebuilt and restored many times.

In modern Istanbul, the Hippodrome is called the square, where there were its architectural decorations. Three of the obelisk has reached our days. Above is a photo taken in the architectural Museum of Istanbul.

This is how obelisks look in modern Istanbul. (Photographed late at night) the First is the obelisk of Constantine (left), the second - the obelisk of Theodosius (right) and the Snake column (bottom).

Only one head out of three remained from the Snake column. Now it is located in the archaeological Museum of Istanbul.

Next we will go to the second floor of the Museum. In small rooms there are collections of different times of development of the Turkish people. In the photo you can see the foot print of Muhammad.

The oldest handwritten copies of pages from the Koran

Soldiers peacekeepers from Konya. 13th century.

12-13 century. Oil lamps of interesting shape. Round is a buckle for a belt.

Products great Seljuk period (1040-1157). The Seljuks founded a huge Empire in Western Asia. It is one of the most famous dawns of the territory from Iran to Anatolia. Cultural exchange, technical achievements, economic growth, art - all this was inherent in the Seljuk era.

Vases of the Mamluk era (1250-1517).

The Mamluks, a military caste in medieval Egypt.

Products of gold and silver Timurid period (1370-1507). In the Timurid Empire, the dawn of art was at its peak in the 15th century. It is even called the Timurid Renaissance, comparing with the European Renaissance.

Ottoman Tetris of the 18th century. Seriously, the lacquer playing cards.

The Koran in beautiful bindings. They are in the Museum a huge number. Some are decorated with precious stones, gold, silver.

Embroidery on fabrics that were brought from different mosques. This is only one canvas. There are still huge samples in the Museum. I don't remember where they came from.

13 century fixed from Konya. The Empire of the Seljuks of various pictures of animals. Among them mythological and real. Very often created hybrid animals. Met the Sphinx - the face of a man, but the body of a lion. Sometimes to sphinxes added wings.

Seljuk tiles. In cult buildings Seljuks often used turquoise colors with stars. The material for their work was clay based on silicon.

Woodcarving in the Seljuk era is very similar to the style of stucco decorations of Mesopotamia and Persia. The Seljuks were well acquainted with the carving technique. I really like the Seljuk style in different ways. In General, they loved to decorate everything. But the products in the end did not look heavy. They present the lightness and laciness. It doesn't matter if it was stone or wood or other materials. Seljuks began to frame window openings and doors, as well as the edge of the roof with beautiful openwork patterns.

The Museum has a very large collection of carpets, it is considered one of the best in the world. The photo carpets of the Ottoman Empire. In the huge room you can see the elements of architectural groups that are inherent in the period of the Ottomans.