From AboutTurkey.com
Turkey Guide and Travel Information
TOPKAPI PALACE
By Turkey
Dec 9, 2006, 14:08
TOPKAPI PALACE- TOPKAPI SARAYI
Topkapý Palace is one of the most important places to be seen in Istanbul. The first outer gate of the Palace we come to is called the Bab-i Humayun, or Imperial Gate; it was built in 1459, 6 years after the Conquest. After his victorious entry into the city, the young Conqueror Mehmet II retired to rest in the Old Seraglio of the time, which is today the University of Istanbul at Beyazit, he did not move to Topkapi until some time later, after the Palace had been properly fitted out. Thus this gate, which goes back to the Conqueror's reign, itself, comprises a separate building, with two domed bedrooms at the sides, two storerooms, an entresol reached by a staircase, three guard-rooms and two latrines. This exterior section of the Sultan's residence was called "Kapicilar Ocagi"; it was opened at the time of the morning prayer and locked after the evening prayer.
In the interior at a point called "Kubbealti" (Under the Dome) the state functionaries met every Tuesday, the day set aside for deliberations. People having business with one of the government departments, merchants and traders and those with relatives serving inside the Palace, had to announce their identity in advance and explain the purpose of their visit.
This entrance gate into the Seraglio was the scene of important happenings, some of them bloody, in Ottoman History. Men of State, great personages of the Empire were executed here, Governors of imperial Provinces were hanged, the ringleaders of revolts had their severed heads exposed on these outer walls. Viziers, men of learning, and foreign ambassadors visiting the Palace could pass through the gate either on foot or on horseback, to arrive at the second entrance. After crossing the Bab-i Humayun, we come to an open space known as the First Courtyard of the Palace. At the farther end of this we see the Second Gate, called the Middle Gate, or Bab-us-Selam (Gate of Salutation).
The great gate before us now is known as the Middle Gate; it is the Gate of Salutation (Bab-us-Selam). It is flanked on either side by a tower of planed stone. The gate dates from Fatih (The Conqueror), the towers belong to the period of Suleyman Magnificent; all three underwent alterations after the Conquest of Hungary, being then endowed with a Hungarian style. In accordance with Palace regulations, persons entitled to the use of horse or carriage were obliged to descend from them at this threshold of the Bab-us-Selam and proceed on foot. Only the sovereign had the right to pass through the second gate on horseback.
Tourists also are required to abandon their vehicles at this point, thus obeying a historic ordonnance! By an amendment not foreseen in history the taking of photographs is allowed and tickets for both tourist and camera are obtainable at the ticket office.
The guards of this gate were under the orders of the "Kapucubasi Aga" (Aga-in-chief of the gatekeepers), which was one of the high posts of the Palace. This chief of the gatekeepers was responsible for communicating to those concerned the firmans (edicts) of the Imperial Divan, on which account he was received by the Valis (Governer - Generals of Provinces). Personages who had been granted an audience waited to be received in the room belonging to this Chief Gatekeeper of the Palace; those unfortunate enough to have incurred the Sultan's displeasure were tooted up in the cells below the towers, emerging to follow their destiny, either prison, forgetfulness in the bosom of their families, or the block placed outside the gate near the Executioners' Fountain.
The alter ego of the Sultan, his supreme representative, the Grand Vizier, arriving at this brilliant rank of power and splendour, becoming after he had crossed on foot the threshold of this second gate, the Lieutenant of the Empire, could always be relegated to the lowest rank at the lightest sign of the Sultan. Then he would have to give back the Imperial Seal entrusted to him in a little silk purse, and await the worst, without any help in the world, his life at stake...
Let us make our way into the second courtyard of the Palace, It was here that the janissaries received their thrice-yearly pay and swallowed down their legendary soup. Here on the two Bayrams, the "Saray Baklavasi" (Palace Baklava) is distributed. The same spot witnessed this rioting of the soldiery in revolt, the growling and yelling of the mob. In the Palace of Sultans, at present, there are sections such as kiosks and residential apartments open for public visits because of their value in architecture and furniture as well as there are sections arranged as a museum with cabinets in which valuable objects are exhibited.
However, in such a world of complicated buildings, it will be necessary to make one or two expections in our principle. For example, the entrance of the Harem happens to be in the second courtyard not far from the Middle Gate, but the exit in the third courtyard; therefore, by keeping to the right, we shall arrive at the entrance of the Harem towards the end of our visit to the Palace and having visited Harem, we shall find ourselves once more in the third courtyard and from therepass under the Gate of Felicity once more and even through the second courtyard. Opposite us can be seen the third and last of the interior gates of the Palace. Beyond a wall on our right extend the Palace kitchens, to the left we notice the building known as "Kubbe Alti".
We are going to pass through the interior gate, which gives access to the Sultan's private apartments. Here we are in the secluded, domestic domain of the sovereign. No one could enter the Sultan's house without authority. Only the Grand Vizier on certain days specified in advance and on conditions also specified in advance, could pass beneath this gate behind which was this royal audience chamber, in order to report on affairs of state. Insurgents who stormed into the Palace always came to a stop before this inviolable gate; throughout the whole course of its history it was only twice entered by rebellious forces, once at the fall of the young Sultan Osman, secondly when Alemdar Mustafa Pasa returned from Rumeli at the head of a revolutionary army to restore Selim III to the throne.
This Gate of Felicity has been the scene in our history of other remarkable vents: the accession to the throne of a new Sultan, the offering of vows at Bayrams, the ceremonial bestowal of the title of Serdar (Generalissimo) or commander in chief of an army leaving for active service. The transfer by the sovereign with his own hands of the Sacred Flag to a chosen soldier took place on the threshold of the "Bab-us-Saade". No matter what the season or the weather, the imperial throne, furnished with gilded cushions, was set up before this famous door; at ritual feasts a special throne was installed, and given the name of "Bayram Tahti" (Throne of Festivals).
The day of his accession the monarch first received the homage of the "Kizlaragasi" (Grand Eunuch) and of the chief of his personal chamberlains, the "Silahtar Aga" (sword bearer), Grand Master of the palace pages.
Only when the ceremony was completed did the sovereign seat himself on the throne. The esplanade opposite the gate was thronged with janissaries in dress uniform, the Band (Mehter), first musical ensemble to exist in an army, struck up martial airs, the soldiers applauded, and the Sultan sat enthroned, the Grand Eunuch on his right, on his left the Master of the Palace pages.
These personages, having already made the act of obedience, did not need to repeat it outside the gate; It was now the turn of other members of the court to come and pay homage and make the act of submission to their lord and master. The «Nakib-ul-Esraf» uttered a prayer for the occasion, the various officials offered their respects and their devotion, and the two Chief Porters, timing their steps to the beating of two silver batons on the ground, led the procession, which had to halt at the building known as "Kubbe Alti» (Below the Cupola). There the Grand Vizier and the viziers as well as the officials included in the protocol, were invited to kiss the hem of the Sultan's cloak.
The procession was headed by the Grand Vizir himself. and when the dignitaries reached a certain designated point (three marked flag-stones), a few paces before the throne beneath the cupola, they bowed down to the ground and humbly saluted the Padishah. At the approach of the Grand Vizier, the Sultan rose, while «Sadrazam» knel and kissed the sovereign's feet, afterwards taking up a position on the right of the throne; then it was the turn of the viziers and other notables to fulfill the same, prescribed obligation. Finally everyone withdrew by backward steps, and the ceremony was over.
When the Sultan had regained his private apartments, he ordered a bonus, called the “Gift of Accession” to be distributed among his soldiers, amounting to three months wages. This was repeated at every new accession to the throne, and was a practice which continued since 14, century. Adjacent to this gate is the Audience Room, which has already been mentioned, it comprises 22 columns and 22 vaults, and represents, with its ornamentation and cornices and roof, a specifically Turkish style of architecture. The facade is covered with coloured tiles and a fountain rests near. The building was put up in the 15th century on the orders of the Conqueror, and subsequently modified. The inscription in Persian above the fountain is a verse written by Suleyman the Law-Giver (Magnificent) and that above the door is by Ahmet III, giving in alphabetical notation the date 1724. There is another inscription in Arabic characters engraved above a second gate, the work of Mahmud II, mentioning the date 1310. It can be seen that the Turkish Sultans counted among them numerous poets and calligraphers.
To the left, below a dome, there is a throne in the form of a dais, on which some cleverly rhymed verses bear the date 1596. Of old and dated appearance now, this imperial seat should be pictured as covered with embroidery, sewn with pearls and the glistening emeralds that we shall be admiring among the beauties gathered in the Imperial Treasury (Hazine). The curtains of the room and the small pillars supporting the throne were set all over with rare stones. There is a small fountain in the interior which with the sound of its spray must have prevented anyone hearing from outside the conversations which took place there.
We said earlier that the Sultan granted audiences to foreign ambassadors and other notables in this room. The ambassadors admitted into the Sultan's presence were flanked by two Agas who supported them by the arms and helped them to prostrate themselves before the Sultan. Throughout the history, the envoy of the Czar Alexis Mihailovitch of Russia flatly refused to do this, and it was only with the difficulty that the two guards succeeded in getting him to perform the obligatory reverence! Leaving by the door in front of us, the steps will lead us towards the sloping ground by which we shall arrive at the Third Courtyard of the Palace. On the left, the first building that we see is the library of Ahmet III. It cannot be entered without a special permit.
© Copyright by AboutTurkey.com
Turkey Guide and Travel Information
|
|