Today we were joined by Donna and David from Milwaukee so now we are five. We started the day walking along the Hippodrome. This is where they used to have chariot races, and Jon said rumor is that there was a stadium that seated 100,000 people but that might just be a story. Here's a photo of the Egyptian obelisk:
From there we saw the Blue Mosque. It is huge and impressive, but not as huge and impressive as Aya Sofya. It was built in just 7 years (again, tons of cheap labor) by Sultan Ahmet I in the 1600s, supposedly to build a mosque to rival Aya Sofya. It has 6 minarets - you only need one for someone to announce prayer times each day, but often the Sultans would want more to show off. Turned out the mosque in Mecca has 6 so Ahmet built one more at Mecca so his would not overshadow the most important one.
The inside is huge and covered with blue tiles, hence the name. The domes in the mosques are supported by four huge columns known as elephant feet.
From there we walked up to Topkapi Palace which sits on the point of land where the waters of the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara all come together. The views are spectacular.
There are three courtyards - the first was for anyone, like a big park outside the main walls. The second courtyard was a ceremonial courtyard, and the third was for the Sultan.
We saw the treasury with its jewel-encrusted swords, boxes, drinking cups, the Topkapi Dagger which was crafted as a gift for the Shah of Iran, but he was killed before they could deliver the gift to him, and the 86 carat pearl shaped Spoonmaker’s Diamond (one of the biggest in the world, Jon said it was once a ring worn by the Sultan to show off - no kidding - it’s nearly as big as my hand. No photos allowed, sorry.
Oh, and then there was the Harem. Here's a picture:
Actually we did not see this. Our tour did not include the Harem. Jon said we could go if we wanted, but the others didn't want to, and when Armando learned that there weren't going to be any beautiful girls there, he lost interest. According to our guide book, this painting depicts a romanticized version of what a European who had never set foot in a harem thought they must be like. The harem's main purpose was to provide hiers to the throne. A sultan had up to 4 wives, and then there were several hundred female slaves who kept house but were not sexually active with the sultan. The sultan's mother, who often had as much, if not more power than the sultan, could choose up to 4 slaves as favorites. Some sultans only had favorites and no wives or one wife. If a favorite had a child she was often elevated to the status of wife. When the sultan died, the new sultan's mother was the only one who could stay. Wives and favorites had to leave and were given a house and a healthy pension.
After another good lunch at a rooftop restaurant with views of the Marmara Sea, we went to the Grand Bazaar for awhile with Donna and David.
Tonight we met the last two members of our tour - Warren and Lynn from Hawaii. Tomorrow we leave Istanbul.
1 comment:
Too bad you didn't get to see what the real harem looked like. That picture is just what I had imagined. Your pictures are wonderful and add so much to the journal of your adventures. Have fun on the road!
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