Topkapi Palace

Saving the planet is for sissies. I want to be a sultan when I grow up. A big, fat, lazy, and ludicrously wealthy sultan. Ideally, one who lives in Topkapi Palace, the tremendous estate that Anna and I toured yesterday.   

Topkapi Palace from the water. Photo:wikipedia

Topkapi Palace, built over a ten-year period in the mid 15thcentury, was home to Ottoman sultans between 1465-1856. The palace sits on a large hill overlooking the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara and consists of four main courtyards and tons of marble buildings: stables, dormitories, baths, a huge underground cistern, kitchens, thrones, council halls, a Tower of Justice, a Circumcision Room, treasury, armory, library, and scores of halls and chambers. It’s ornate beyond description.  


Scale model of palace.

A chamber of some type.

Circumcision is a BIG DEAL in Turkey. This sign was at the entrance to the the palace's elaborate Circumcision Room.

Water comes out of this.

At its peak over 4000 people lived in the palace. Now it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and primarily- and for good reason- a tourist destination. Many of the halls and chambers now house fancy antiques and valuable historic goodies. One highlight was the armory, which had a 9-foot long 14th century Hungarian sword and loud battle music coming from the room’s overhead speakers. The Treasury was equally impressive. I’ve never seen so much gold and diamond glitter on one place. This multi-room storehouse was filled with jewelry, inlaid ebony thrones, golden music boxes, golden flasks, diamond encrusted pistols, rare gems, and the two best things: the Spoonmaker’s Diamond(86 karat diamond surrounded by 49 other cut diamond) and two golden candlesticks that each weigh 106 lb and are mounted with 6,666 cut diamonds each.  So, who wouldn’t want to be sultan??

Photo's aren't allowed in the fancy buildings. Here's a top secret one of the 9 foot 14th century Hungarian swords.

A postcard of the gold, diamond encrusted daggers in the treasury.

In other news, this city rocks. We walked about fifteen miles today and visited many more old buildings, a Roman era aqueduct, and sampled lots of food. Here are some photos from the city.