Ted. I first heard the word Topkapi when I saw a wonderful film from 1964 with the same name. It starred Peter Ustinov and other great European actors and the plot involved the theft of an incredible jeweled dagger from a palace in Istanbul.
Until our visit to Istanbul last month, that is all I knew of Topkapi.
I now understand that the Topkapi Palace served as the main residence of the Ottoman sultans in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries – sort of a Turkish Versailles, but nicer - in my opinion.
I really liked the Ottoman architecture and the intimacy of the small pavilions scattered around a series of lovely courtyards.
The Palace is a very popular tourist destination but we got there as it opened one morning and were able to enjoy a leisurely stroll through the grounds and buildings. There is a ton of information on the Palace in Wikipedia so I won’t attempt to duplicate that. Here are a few photos.
 |
| A small garden |
 |
| Glorious ceiling |
 |
| A throne in every building |
 |
| The Sultan's Library |
 |
| View of the Golden Horn |
 |
| One of the pavilions |
 |
| The Bosporus from Seraglio Point (yep, as in Abduction) |
 |
| Another glorious ceiling |
 |
| And finally... The Sultan's Dagger! |
No comments:
Post a Comment