Topkapi Palace

Lonely Planet review

Home to Selim the Sot, who drowned in the bath after drinking too much champagne; İbrahim the Mad, who lost his reason after being locked up for four years in the infamous palace kafes (cages); and Roxelana, beautiful and malevolent consort of Süleyman the Magnificent, Topkapı would have to be the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world's museums put together. No wonder it's been the subject of an award-winning feature film, an opera (Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio ) and a blockbuster social history (John Freely's wonderful Inside the Seraglio ). Make sure you dedicate at least half a day to exploring, because tourist attractions rarely come any better than this.

Mehmet the Conqueror built the first stage of the palace shortly after the Conquest in 1453, and lived here until his death in 1481. Subsequent sultans lived in this rarefied environment until the 19th century, when they moved to ostentatious European-style palaces such as Dolmabahçe, Çırağan and Yıldız that they built on the shores of the Bosphorus. Mahmut II (r 1808-39) was the last sultan to live in Topkapı.

Buy your tickets to the Palace at the main ticket office just outside the gate to the Second Court. Tickets to the Harem are available at the ticket box outside the Harem itself. Guides to the palace congregate next to the main ticket office. A one-hour tour cost Euro10 per person for large-ish groups, you need to negotiate if you're in a small group or by yourself. Alternatively, an audio guide in English, French, Italian, Spanish or German will cost you around YTL5 . These are available at the audio booth just inside the turnstile entrance to the Second Court. Note that the palace is undergoing a prolonged program of conservation works and its buildings are being closed to the public in turn while they are being restored. A board listing which buildings are currently closed to the public is to the left of the ticket office.

Before you enter the Imperial Gate (Bab-ı Hümayun; M00E9) of Topkapı, take a look at the ornate structure in the cobbled square near the gate. This is the Fountain of Sultan Ahmet III, built in 1728 by the sultan who so favoured tulips. It replaced a Byzantine fountain at the same spring. Typical of architecture during the Tulip Period, it features delicate Turkish rococo decorations (note the floral carvings).

As you pass through the Imperial Gate, you enter the First Court, known as the Court of the Janissaries, also known as the Parade Court. On your left is Aya İrini, also known as Hagia Eirene or the Church of the Divine Peace. There was a Christian church here from earliest times and, before that, a pagan temple. The early church was replaced by the present one, commissioned by Justinian in the 540s. It is almost exactly as old as its close neighbour, Aya Sofya. When Mehmet the Conqueror began building his palace, the church was within the grounds and was most fortunately retained. It was used as an arsenal for centuries, then as an artillery museum and now occasionally as a concert hall (especially during the International İstanbul Music Festival, see ). Its serenely beautiful interior and superb acoustics mean that tickets to concerts here are usually the most sought-after in town. If you're fortunate enough to be here during the festival, think about visiting the temporary box office, located outside Aya İrini, to see if any tickets are available.

Janissaries, merchants and tradespeople could circulate as they wished in the Court of the Janissaries, but the Second Court was restricted. The same is true today, as you must have a ticket to the palace to enter the Second Court. Just past the ticket windows is a little fountain where the imperial executioner used to wash the tools of his trade after decapitating a noble or rebel who had displeased the sultan. The head of the unfortunate victim was put on a pike and exhibited above the gate you are about to enter.

The Middle Gate (Ortakapı or Bab-üs Selâm) led to the palace's Second Court, used for the business of running the empire. Only the sultan and the valide sultan (queen mother) were allowed through the Middle Gate on horseback. Everyone else, including the grand vizier, had to dismount. The gate was constructed by Süleyman the Magnificent in 1524, utilising architects and workers he had brought back from his conquest of Hungary.

To the right after you enter are models and a map of the palace. Beyond them, in a nearby building, you'll find imperial carriages made in Paris, Turin and Vienna for the sultan and his family.

The Second Court has a beautiful, park-like setting. Topkapı is not based on a typical European palace plan - one large building with outlying gardens - but is a series of pavilions, kitchens, barracks, audience chambers, kiosks and sleeping quarters built around a central enclosure.

The great Palace Kitchens, on your right, hold a small portion of Topkapı's vast collection of Chinese celadon porcelain, valued by the sultans for its beauty but also because it was reputed to change colour if touched by poisoned food. In a building close by are the collections of European, Russian and Ottoman porcelain, silverware and glassware. Some of the huge pots and pans that were used in the palace's heyday are exhibited in the last of the kitchens, the Helvahane, in which all the palace sweets were made.

On the left (west) side of the Second Court is the ornate Imperial Council Chamber, also called the Divan Salonu. It's beneath the squarish Tower of Justice, the palace's highest point. The Imperial Divan (council) met in the Imperial Council Chamber to discuss matters of state while the sultan eavesdropped through a grille high on the wall. During the great days of the empire, foreign ambassadors were received on days when the janissaries were to get their pay. Huge sacks of silver coins were brought to the Imperial Council Chamber. High-court officers would dispense the coins to long lines of the tough, impeccably costumed and faultlessly disciplined troops as the ambassadors looked on in admiration.

North of the Imperial Council Chamber is the Inner Treasury, which today exhibits Ottoman and European armour.

The entrance to the palace's most famous sight, the Harem , is beneath the Tower of Justice (Adalet Kulesi) on the left-hand side of the Second Court. The tower is not open to the public.

If you enter the Third Court after visiting the Harem (and thus by the back door), you should head for the main gate into the court and enter again to truly appreciate the grandeur of the approach to the heart of the palace. This main gate, known as the Gate of Felicity or Gate of the White Eunuchs, was the entrance into the sultan's private domain. As is common with oriental potentates, the sultan preserved the imperial mystique by appearing in public very seldom. The Third Court was staffed and guarded by white eunuchs, who allowed only a few very important people in. As you enter the Third Court, imagine it alive with the movements of imperial pages and white eunuchs scurrying here and there in their palace costumes. Every now and then the chief white eunuch or the chief black eunuch would appear, and all would bow. If the sultan walked across the courtyard, all activity stopped until the event was over.

An exception to the imperial seclusion was the ceremony celebrating a new sultan's accession to the throne. After girding the Sword of Osman, which symbolised imperial power, the new monarch would sit enthroned before the Gate of Felicity and receive the obeisance, allegiance and congratulations of the empire's high and mighty.

Before the annual military campaigns in summertime, the sultan would also appear before this gate bearing the standard of the Prophet Mohammed to inspire his generals to go out and conquer all for Islam.

Inside the Gate of Felicity is the Audience Chamber, constructed in the 16th century but refurbished in the 18th century. Important officials and foreign ambassadors were brought to this little kiosk to conduct the high business of state. An ambassador, frisked for weapons and held on each arm by a white eunuch, would approach the sultan. At the proper moment, he knelt and kowtowed; if he didn't, the eunuchs would urge him ever so forcefully to do so.

The sultan, seated on the divans whose cushions are embroidered with over 15,000 seed pearls, inspected the ambassador's gifts and offerings as they were passed through the small doorway on the left. Even if the sultan and the ambassador could converse in the same language (sultans in the later years knew French and ambassadors often learned Turkish), all conversation was with the grand vizier. The sultan would not deign to speak to a foreigner and only the very highest Ottoman officers were allowed to address the monarch directly.

Right behind the Audience Chamber is the pretty Library of Ahmet III, built in 1719 by Sultan Ahmet III. Light-filled, it has comfortable reading areas and stunning inlaid woodwork.

To the right of the Audience Chamber (ie on the opposite side of the Harem exit) are the rooms of the Dormitory of the Expeditionary Force, which now house the rich collections of imperial robes, kaftans and uniforms worked in silver and gold thread. Also here is a fascinating collection of talismanic shirts, which were believed to protect the wearer from enemies and misfortunes of all kinds. Textile design reached its highest point during the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, when the imperial workshops produced cloth of exquisite design and work. Check out the absolutely gorgeous silk kaftan of Sultan Süleyman II with its appliquéd tulip design.

Next to the Dormitory of the Expeditionary Force is the Imperial Treasury, which features an incredible collection of precious objects made from or decorated with gold, silver, rubies, emeralds, jade, pearls and diamonds. The building itself was constructed by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1460 and has always been used to store works of art and treasure. In the first room, look for the jewel-encrusted sword of Süleyman the Magnificent and the Throne of Ahmed I, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and designed by Mehmet Ağa, architect of the Blue Mosque. In the second room, the tiny Indian figures, mainly made from seed pearls, are well worth seeking out, as are the bizarre and vaguely sinister relics of the Arm and Skull of St John the Baptist, which are cased in jewels. Both had originally been in the possession of the Byzantines and fell into Ottoman hands after the Conquest.

After passing through the third room and having a gawk at the enormous gold and diamond candlesticks, each weighing 48kg, you come to a fourth room and the Treasury's most famous exhibit: the Topkapı Dagger. The object of the criminal quest in the 1964 movie Topkapi, it features three enormous emeralds on the hilt and a watch set into the pommel. Also here is the Kaşıkći (Spoonmaker's) Diamond, a teardrop-shaped 86-carat rock surrounded by dozens of smaller stones. First worn by Mehmet IV at his accession to the throne in 1648, it's the world's fifth-largest diamond. It's called the Spoonmaker's Diamond because it was originally found at a rubbish dump in Eğrıkapı and purchased by a street peddler for three spoons.

Opposite the Treasury on the other side of the Third Court there's another set of wonders, the holy relics in the Suite of the Felicitous Cloak, nowadays called the Sacred Safekeeping Rooms. These rooms, sumptuously decorated with İznik faïence, constitute a holy of holies within the palace. Only the chosen could enter the Third Court, but entry into these special rooms was for the chosen of the chosen, and even then only on ceremonial occasions. During the empire, this suite of rooms was opened only once a year so that the imperial family could pay homage to the memory of the Prophet on the 15th day of the holy month of Ramazan. Even though anyone, prince or commoner, faithful or infidel, can enter the rooms now, you should respect the sacred atmosphere by observing decorous behaviour, as this is still a place of pilgrimage for Muslims.

In the east entry room, notice the carved door from the Kaaba in Mecca and, hanging from the ceiling, gilded rain gutters from the same place.

To the right (north) a room contains a hair of Prophet Mohammed's beard, his footprint in clay, his sword, tooth and more. There is a glass booth here from which a seated imam chants passages from the Quran. The felicitous cloak itself resides in a golden casket in a small adjoining room along with the battle standard.

Also in the Third Court are the Quarters of Pages in Charge of the Sacred Safekeeping Rooms, where the palace school for pages and janissaries was located. These days the building features exhibits of Turkish miniature paintings, calligraphy and portraits of the sultans. Notice the graceful, elaborate tuğra (monogram) of the sultans. The tuğra, placed at the top of any imperial proclamation, contains elaborate calligraphic rendering of the names of the sultan and his father, eg 'Abdül Hamit Khan, son of Abdül Mecit Khan, Ever Victorious'.

Other buildings in the Third Court include the Mosque of the Eunuchs and a small library.

Pleasure pavilions occupy the northeastern corner of the palace, sometimes called the Tulip Gardens or Fourth Court. A late addition to Topkapı, the Mecidiye Köşkü, was built by Abdül Mecit (r 1839-61) according to 19th-century European models. Beneath this is the Konyalı restaurant .

West of the Mecidiye Köşkü is the sultan's Chief Physician's Room. Interestingly, the chief physician was always one of the sultan's Jewish subjects. Nearby, you'll see the Kiosk of Mustafa Pasha, sometimes called the Sofa Köşkü. Outside the kiosk, during the reign of Ahmet III, the Tulip Garden was filled with the latest varieties of the flower. Little lamps would be set out among the tulips at night.

Up the stairs at the end of the Tulip Garden are two of the most enchanting buildings in the palace, joined by a marble terrace with a beautiful pool. Murat IV (r 1623-40) built the Revan Kiosk in 1636 after reclaiming the city of Yerevan (now in Armenia) from Persia. In 1639 he constructed the Baghdad Kiosk, one of the last examples of classical palace architecture, to commemorate his victory over that city. Notice the superb İznik tiles, the mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell inlay, and the woodwork.

Jutting out from the terrace is the golden roof of the İftariye Baldachin, the most popular happy-snap spot in the palace grounds. İbrahim the Mad built this small structure in 1640 as a picturesque place to break the fast of Ramazan.

On the west end of the terrace is the Circumcision Room (Sünnet Odası), used for the ritual that admits Muslim boys to manhood. Built by İbrahim in 1641, the outer walls of the chamber are graced by particularly beautiful tile panels.