Topkapı Palace or Paradise and hell for 25 sultans. Istanbul

  Hi friends!  

There is a mysterious Topkapi Palace in Istanbul/Topkapı, which is visible from different parts of the city.

Opposite the Palace there is a bus station and feribot ferry. The station is located in the Asian part of Istanbul and is called Harem.

Topkapi stores an incredible amount of intrigue and fear. Throughout the territory in historical times lived more than 50 thousand people. It's like a small town in a big city. Today we will take a short walk along the historical paths of the Palace.

On the Cape 700 thousand squares occupied by Topkapi Palace. The Cape is at the junction of the Bosphorus and Marmara sea. The Palace was built in the 15th century (1460-1478) Fatih Sultan. One and a half kilometer wall blocks the whole Palace from the outside world. If you keep the path from Hagia Sophia to Topkapi, you will see the first gate - "Sultan's Gate" / Saltanat Kapısı or Imperial gate.

Now Topkapı is a Museum. Works all days except Tuesday. During religious holidays will be closed until noon. In many Museum departments it is forbidden to photograph. Guards carefully watch it and can remove from the room for violations.

Passing through the Imperial gate, you find yourself in a huge garden-Park with old buildings. It should be noted that there are a lot of police everywhere, which looks after the order. In the Park you can take a picture of the sea of Marmara from a height. People walk and, lying on the clearing, enjoy the history of ancient times. There is always a huge number of people. Without a Museum card, you can stand in line for 2-3 hours to go to Topkapi. The cost of the ticket without the Museum card 40 Turkish liras. It's a little more than 10 dollars.

The Museum card is not valid for visiting the Harem. The cost of the visit to the Harem 25 Turkish liras. In the Harem a huge area, so expect a visit to get around. In summer, ticket offices close at 18:00 (from 15 April to 30 October), in winter - 16: 00. Before the trip, read the information about the holidays and weekends on the official website of the Topkapi Palace.

There is a children's room on site where you can feed babies. It is forbidden to walk around the Museum with prams. Currently part of Topkapi Palace is under reconstruction.

Be sure to visit the Church of St. Irene. It is located in this Park or, as they call it, in the courtyard of the first Topkapi. The Church is dedicated to the Holy world. This early Byzantine Cathedral was erected in the early 4th century on the ruins of the historic temple of Aphrodite. Before the construction of the Hagia Sophia, the Church of St. Irene was dominant in Constantinople. A fire in 532 year completely destroyed the Church. In 548, Justinian rebuilt Holy Irene. Even in the fall of Constantinople, the Church was not converted into a mosque. It was used for economic and military purposes.

Inside the stunning sense of antiquity, peace and quiet. Most of all I was struck by the acoustic data of the Cathedral of St. Irene. The architects worked hard on it. No wonder there are concerts of classical music. The price of 20 Turkish Lira or 5.2 of the dollar. Visiting time is from 9: 00 to 17:00.

Approaching the main gate of the Topkapi (Bab-üs Selam Kapısı / welcome Gate) on the right you will see on the wall the preserved old ablutions of different samples. Flowers everywhere, but looking at this place, the hairs stand on end. Here cut heads to the right and to the left. Very often not understanding-rights man or not. Then head cling on a stake and placed at the entrance gate of Topkapi. This place is hard to imagine how much spilled blood. Gardeners in Topkapi acted as executioners. All at once he was circumcised in the language. The gardener and the executioner, my eyes getting dark with such thoughts. Life and death in one set.

Myalina is located near the fountain of the Executioner.

Here is the main gate of Topkapi Palace. Was built by Fatih Sultan in 1468. The rooms are designed in a typical Ottoman style. Portal vault, arched niches, two towers and side niches. In historical times, only the Sultan could enter through these doors. The inscriptions that we see now are made in the 19th century.

Iron doors were made in 1524 by Isa bin Mehmed. The facade, which overlooks the courtyard, is decorated in the Rococo style of the 18th century.

In the center of a huge garden with a road that leads to Bab-üs Saade kapısı or Gate of Happiness. It is the throne room and the Sultan's private chambers. Was built in the time of Selim I. the III Courtyard is called the Enderun Avlusu/Enderun Avlusu.

Right in the yard was located in a large kitchen of the Palace. Now here is a collection of treasures (Enderun Hazinesi/treasure Enderun) Ottoman sultans. This exhibition is considered one of the richest in the world. Now on reconstruction.

The ancient dagger of Topkapi Palace looks like this. There is an exhibit in the fourth yard of Topkapi, but now there is a reconstruction. Took a picture of the dagger in the gift shop. Made under natural, which in Museum. Very similar, earlier I saw him several times in the Museum. Topkapi dagger keeps a history of the Persian and Ottoman empires. Sultan Mahmud I in 1747 sent a chest of gifts to Shah of Persia Nadir. Among which was present this the dagger. All in emeralds and diamonds, with handmade British clocks - it was one of the most beautiful daggers in the world of that time. Scabbard dagger Topkapi made of gold. With the death of Shah of Persia, the dagger somehow returned to the Palace. For acquaintance it is possible to watch the movie "Topkapi". Jules Dassin made this film in 1964.

How many births and deaths have seen the walls of Topkapi Palace. It's hard to imagine. But Topkapi is really one of the most interesting museums in the world. The historical archives collected a huge number of books, papers, schemes and scientific developments of the time.

Sultans gathered the best mathematicians, physicists, architects and other scientists to work on new inventions. It stores the work of the mechanic-inventor of al Jazeera (13th century), which impresses with his inventions so far. It is called Leonard da Vinci of the Arab world. No wonder, because he invented more than 50 mechanisms. One of them is a mechanical maid. It is a mechanism that helped make ablution before prayer, and served a towel to the Sultan.

The remains of the historical road of different models.

The court of audiences Enderun Avlusu.

The audience of the Sultan in the courtyard of Enderun Avlusu.

The entrance to Enderun Avlusu.

Structure between the second and third courtyards.

Library of Sultan Ahmet III.

The second courtyard of Topkapi Palace and the area of the Sofa. All important state ceremonies were held here. The highest governing body in the Ottoman Empire was called Sofa/Divan.

Tower of justice / Adalet Kulesi in Topkapi Palace. It was built under Fatiha as a center of observation of the Golden Horn.

In the second yard the building was divided into three parts. The first part was the great vizier's office. In the second part there was a room for work with documents. In the third seat of the Sofa.

The Museum presents compasses. The map is very unusual working compass. Too bad you can't take pictures. Made some pictures of the exhibits.

In one of the Museum rooms are watches from around the world. All of them are made to order. Very interesting exposition, but it is also forbidden to photograph here.

The wall of the meeting room Divan.

The painting in the meeting room of the Divan. The walls and ceiling are beautifully decorated, you find yourself in a fairy tale of geometric shapes.

The meeting room of the Divan.

The window, which was the Sultan when he attended sessions of the Divan.

Reliefs design II yard.

On the territory there is a separate Topkapi Palace Museum - Harem. But the harem was originally located in another building. Only in 1541, roxelana persuaded Suleiman the Great harem to move to the Topkapi Palace. This step allowed Hürrem is always next to the sovereign. No one never really knew what was going on in the harem. I call it the incubator and breeding of the Ottoman Empire. But about this Museum need to write a separate post.

On the territory of Topkapi there are buildings, which are called cafes. Windows of rooms are closed by lattices. This part of the history of the Ottoman Empire has always terrified me. A huge black spot of the Ottomans, who were involved in the murder of their loved ones. The entire period of existence of the Ottoman Empire can be divided into three parts, with regards to the heirs. The early period from 1299 in 1444, in other words to the known law of the Fatiha, which reads as follows:

    Order in the state, one of the sons who will take the throne, has the right to kill all his brothers.

Before this law, the sultans of their sons were sent to lead different regions of the country. There were slaughterhouses for the throne, which was claimed by several of the brethren. After of law Fatiha, until 1617 year all heirs male gender smothered. With 1617 year have come up with another slow death - this imprisonment. On the territory of Topkapi Palace and were behind bars Sehzade, many of which just went crazy. Terrifying picture! Each of the imprisoned sons of the Sultan understood that death could come at any moment. At the same time, they were kept, if I may say so, in comfort and provided education. Could there be a future in such an Empire? And how many more ancestors of this territory will wash away the terrible story or pay for these actions? Time will tell...

This is only a tiny part of what you learned about Topkapi Palace. If you have the opportunity to take a guide, it is better to do so. The electronic guide will not be able to give the full picture. When going to the Topkapi need to be a little prepared. There is a lot of information online. The Ottoman Empire existed for 624 years. During this time, a huge amount of history. Only in information about the sultans can you get lost.

In 1854, the Sultan Abdul Mejit I moved to a new Palace Dolmabahce. In 1923 Topkapi was transferred to the status of a Museum, and since 1985 the Palace is under the wing of UNESCO.

  Photo taken on the iPhone 6S+  

  Thank you for your attention! Today is another wonderful day! All good sentiments!  

From Turkey, @ rosy440.     

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