It’s the city where strangely the stray cats beg like dogs at the outdoors restaurant tables, and Topkapi Palace, all the guidebooks agree, is a must see part of Istanbul. I found it vastly overcrowded, full of third rate architecture, the busiest parts of which house some of the most ghastly geegaws I’d ever set eyes on; bling so vulgar even a gangsta rapper would probably never be seen shot dead wearing it. Especially to be avoided is the building housing alleged various bits and pieces of the Prophet, like one of those many medieval churches with heads of John the Baptist and foreskins of Christ once scattered all over Europe. It was dangerously overcrowded and I bailed out almost as soon as I was swept into the place by the crush of the pilgrims. The famous Harem, with some of the most spectacular interiors judging from pictures I’ve seen cost extra to get into, so I didn’t bother.
Topkapi PalaceUndeniably this Ottoman palace is full of history, unfortunately mostly of the venal kind, a stage for fratricide, matricide, patricide (if it ends in “cide” it happened here), blinding’s, slavery, rape, torture, imprisonment and execution. The Sultan needed only to stamp his foot twice like a petulant infant and the person speaking to him would be dragged off to be strangled or have his throat cut. Had any part of the Byzantine palace of the Christian emperors survived Mehmed’s conquest all this would have equally applied (minus the foot stomping part, possibly with a bit more blinding).
Topkapi PalaceWhat it does offer is stunning vistas of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara across to Asia, a commanding view of mercantile and military seagoing traffic which the Sultan could keep his eye on and at the same time proclaim his omnipotence from the prominence of his hill top, mini-city. And OK, there are some finely crafted objects in the treasury amid the hideous tat.
Alexander sarcophagusMuch more interesting are the buildings you pass on the way up to the Palace, the Museum of Archaeology which houses some stunning treasures from the Roman world and a famous (if drab) collection of goods excavated from Troy (mostly undecorated domestic ware, pots etc).
Porphyry sarcophagus Sarcophagus of the Mourning WomenStandard Bearer’s gravestone It also houses various local bits and pieces from the classical period up to the Ottoman times, including Mehmed’s quite spectacular Tile Pavilion which is now itself a small museum of ceramics. This kinda thing usually bores me rigid but there were some exquisite things here.
Tile Pavilion MihrabCeramics played a huge role in Ottoman ornamentation. Tiles were to them what mosaics were to the Byzantines and later Fresco to the Renaissance Italians. Conservative Sunni clerics had declared that depiction of the human form in art was un-Islamic therefor abstract design and decorative practice flourished instead, taking botany and geometry as their chief inspiration (as would the Art Nouveau movement at the end of the 19th century in Europe, “Art is the flower.” Charles Rennie Mackintosh would declare).
The Blue MosqueHence, at ruinous expense the interior of the Sultan Ahmed mosque is lined with 20,000 of the finest tiles decorated with flowers, fruits and trees, a vanity project ordered by the ruler for whom it is named which nearly bankrupted his Empire and exhausted the Iznik ceramic works where they were manufactured. And why botany? Because this turned mosque interiors into representations of the Garden of Eden, the Paradise promised to the Believers. Ironically the sultan who sought immortality in stone’s name is largely ignored, as most people call this building after the tiles decorating it, the Blue Mosque.
Rustem Pasha CamiiIznik tiles also cover the walls of the tiny but extraordinary Rustem Pasha mosque, both inside and uniquely for an Ottoman Friday mosque, outside too. The structure memorialising one of the most powerful men in the Empire and Sultan Suleiman’s son in law in squeezed into one of the most crowded parts of the Old City, near the Spice Market (another “must see” guide book recommendation which I hated).
Street near the Spice MarketWhile visiting this building designed by Sinan in 1563 I realised that I didn’t have a clue what I was looking at. Elsewhere in Europe where the architecture is based on classical Greek or ancient Roman traditions I could interpret it but here I was a stumped, visual illiterate, and not just because of the Arabic calligraphy. Why did it have all these tiles on the outside, why only one minaret when the nearby grander Suleymaniye (also designed by Sinan) had four minarets but no tiles? Why did the Suleymaniye not have six minarets like the less prestigious Blue Mosque? This was something I had to read up on when I got back home.
Inside Rustem Pasha CamiiRustem Pasha overlooked by Suleymaniye, father and son in-lawThe mosques leave some of the most vivid impressions of the Old City, their rocket like minarets dominate the skyline just as Wren’s church spires once commanded the silhouette of pre-twentieth century London.
On a first visit as short as mine though, only a brief look at the outside of a handful of them was possible in passing, with the exception of the ones pictured previously. Plus one of the most beautiful Baroque examples, the Ortakoy was covered in scaffolding and closed (the story of all of my trips abroad).
The New Mosque (or Yeni Valide Camii)Sehzade CamiiMurqarnas hood over Sehzade’s main entranceMihrimah Sultan CamiiNusretiye CamiiOver the bridge the Galata district is still distinguished by its hill top Tower built in 1348, all that remains of the once extensive medieval fortification system of the Genovese merchant’s colony on the Golden Horn.
View of Galata from SuleymaniyeAfter the conquest of Constantinople the Genovese were allowed to keep their trading post provided they tore down the defensive walls (and removed all church bells). For some reason the wonderful tower survived. Maybe I’ll take in the view from this icon if I ever make it back there.
From Europe to Asia, the Bosphorus Bridge