Instanbul Day 4, May 6, 2024. We were rolling early today with perfect weather to beat the crowds at Topkapi Palace & Museum. After guided tour, and a quick lunch, we enjoyed a cruise in the Bosphorus Strait, which is part of the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
The Topkapi Palace is a large museum in the Old City of Instanbul. It was constructed by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror starting in 1459. The palace complex consists of four main court yards and many smaller buildings. Female members of the Sultan’s family lived in the harem, and leading state officials held meetings in the Imperial Council building. This shot is of the tower of Justice near the Imperial Council rooms.
There are beautiful decorative gates throughout the complex.
The Topkapı Dagger, a custom made gift from Sultan Mahmud I (r. 1730-1754) for Nadir Shah of Persia. It is an emerald-studded curved dagger, known as a jambiya, created in 1746 by Ottoman craftsmen. We saw a jeweled water bottle for ceremonies, created in the second half of the 16th century.
The Topkapi Palace Harem was built towards the end of the 16th century. It consisted of around 400 magnificently tiled rooms and chambers connected by courtyards and gardens with fountains. It was home to over 1,000 women, children, eunuchs, and their servants.
The Sultan’s Mother’s had a private salon. The tile on the walls of the Sultan’s Mother’s private salon were amazing as well as the tiles throughout the harem.
The museum contains the Sultan’s traditional clothing and ornate weapons in the Armory.
On our Bosphorus cruise, we saw the Dolmabahce Palace, built by the Empire’s 31st Sultan, Abdulmejid I, and built between the years 1843 and 1856. Previously, the Sultan and his family had lived at the Topkapı Palace, but as the medieval Topkapı was lacking in contemporary style, luxury, and comfort, as compared to the palaces of the European monarchs, Abdülmecid decided to build a new modern palace. Located on European coast of the Bosporus strait, it served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922.
When we got off the boat there were men making grilled fish sandwiches on the pier.