By: Andrew Pipeling
Merhaba ve Day 3 hoş geldiniz! As we departed this morning, almost-freezing temperatures nipped at our extremities. Our goal? Topkapı Palace and all of its tales and treasures. The palace houses four magnificent courtyards, each hosting various buildings and functions. From the Hagia Irene (Holy Wisdom) church in the first courtyard to the lustrous treasury in the third to the beautiful views of the Golden Horn in the fourth, each courtyard was whispering its stories to us. The chronicles of history enthralled us - we were mesmerized by the grandiose palace and all it offered. But time moves on and so did we. After a quick lunch, we trekked to The Istanbul Archeological Museums and made our way inside The Archeology Museum, unfortunately the only one of the three available to us today. Inside, we discussed ancient history from various perspectives: the importance of colors and pigmentation in works of art outside of paintings, representations of sex and gender in the Classical Period, the role of artifacts in our understanding of antiquity. After exploring the museum on our own, many of us meandered towards The Grand Bazaar intending to put our bargaining skills to the test. Returning either empty-handed or hauling goodies, we made our way back to the hotel and prepared for our next trip to Çanakkale!
Starting our day with a Turkish breakfast has become a new normal for us, with each breakfast spoiling us with delicious flavors and enticing options. As we set out for the day, it was quite cold and most of us had three or more layers on! We made our way to Topkapı Palace with Saba, each of us bundled up for the chilly weather. After walking through the impressive Imperial Gates, our first stop was the Hagia Irene. Located roughly 100 meters from the Hagia Sofia but separated by the walls of the palace complex, the Hagia Irene boasts an incredible structure and history.
The Councils of Nicaea took place in the Hagia Irene, where Christian leaders from around the world would congregate to discuss Jesus’ relationship to God. As the first church completed in the new city of Constantinople, the Hagia Irene is nowhere near as large as the Hagia Sofia, yet it still empowers feelings of wonder and veneration. The architectural structure of the Hagia Irene not only helps inspire awe, but has been repurposed to a more modern use: a concert hall. The architecture provides amazing acoustics that allows sound to reverberate through your body, and I can only imagine how impressive the sound is during a full concert.
There is almost too much to discuss about the area comprised of the second and third courtyards, yet we weren’t even able to see half of this area over the course of a morning. The complex typically housed around 4000 people, including thousands of Janissaries, which were personal guards to the sultan. In addition, each sultan would have the Harem, a place for the women and children to live. This is where the sultans’ mother, wives, and hundreds of concubines would live. Eunuchs, men incapable of having children, would also live in the Harem to protect and assist the women without the risk of fathering a child. Eunuchs were further classified as black or white, (simply separator terms, not skin color), where black Eunuchs were Eunuchs who protected the women from harm physically and white Eunuchs taught the women literacy, entertainment, and etiquette. The Harem had distinct power dynamics among the women, where the sultan’s mother had the most power and was able to attend ministry meetings. The Harem also composed of the sultan’s “favorites,” women that were not his wives that he took a particular liking to and gave gifts and independent rooms to. As we explored through the Harem, we were all amazed with the importance and regality of the space. Women were valued quite highly in the sultan’s palace, which becoming increasingly clear as we traversed through the Harem.
After exploring the Harem, we made our way to outside the sultan’s audience chamber, where he would entertain guests and visitors. After discussing the various ways the sultan kept his conversations discrete, including running taps to create noise and employing deaf servants, we dispersed to explore as much of the palace grounds as possible. There were various displays across the two large courtyards we primarily explored, but my favorite was definitely the palace kitchens in the second courtyard. Housing silverware and dishes from China’s Ming Dynasty, pots that could fit at least three people inside, the tools used for preparing coffee hundreds of years ago, and some somewhat too realistic museum figures in the exhibits, everything struck me (mostly with awe but a little bit of fear for that last one).
There were also exhibits dedicated to the sultans’ clothing, the treasury and valuables of the sultans, the more recently built Library of Sultan Ahmed III, and holy relics related to the prophet Muhammed. Each exhibit brought depth to our understanding of the Ottoman Empire, while also helping us inquire about what role these historical devices play in what we know about Türkiye and its connection to the Ottoman past. Furthermore, what deliberate choices has the Turkish government made in the exhibits? What is seen and what is not? As we travel to more places around Türkiye, questions like these swirl around in our brain as we aim to understand not just the historical relevance of Türkiye, but also the connections to the current world.
After exploring Topkapı Palace, I made my way with a small group to buy kumpir (a street food which comprises of a potato mashed with cheese and topped with your choice of various olives, mushrooms, vegetables, meats, and sauces). Absolutely delicious!
Below: Kumpir.
After lunch, we all went as group with Saba to the Archeology Museum and discussed a broad range of topics as we viewed antiquity from a close-up perspective. Understanding that the effects of time and weather have caused color to fade from otherwise vibrant Greek and Roman artifacts is one thing that particularly stands out to me. Furthermore, archeologists in past times made the deliberate choice to whitewash artifacts to make them fit the idea of pureness, goodness, and whiteness, which has only increased the amount of historical relevance we’ve lost. In current times, we have a narrative of the Greeks and Romans from the Classical Period, one that is grounded in altered and incomplete artifacts. This loss of information, of vibrance and color, is a loss that really does influence our perception of this era. This is something that is particularly important to remember. Next time we look at something from the Græco-Roman world, let’s try to imagine it with vibrant colors instead of some plain white. After this discussion that I loved, we discussed a few more topics and then split to look at artifacts as individuals found their interests.
Above: Faded color on the sarcophagus of Alexander.
Now that our course content has come to a close, I’d like to describe our excursion to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar houses over 4000 shops, many of them functioning with similar wares but never the same bargain! After exploring to get our bearings, we felt ready to make some deals. We were very much wrong. Many of these vendors have been selling in the bazaar for years, even decades - they know the game and they play it well. We got some good deals, but also some terrible ones. Although we overspent on certain items, some of us walked away with some nice things to bring home and lessons for the future of bargaining. It was an absolutely awesome place and I will 100% go again. That’s all from me! We’re looking forward to our drive to Çanakkale tomorrow (and the warmer weather), each day in Türkiye is a whole new experience and I can’t wait for this next one! We love y’all!
Topkapı Dagger
Sultan Fur Garments
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