Turkiye Day 3 - Topkapi Sarayi Muzesi, Istanbul (Part II)

Assalamualaikum. Marhaba.

Berzaman lah baru dapat habiskan entry Turkiye ni. Ngeks. Better late than never gitu. Sambungan dari previous entry (here).

Moving from the Tower of Justice, I entered the Imperial Harem. Yang ni kena beli entrance ticket separate. Tapi aku sudah beli siap-siap di main ticket counter pagi tu so I just have to scan my ticket.

"The Harem is one of the sections of the private apartments (Daires) of the sultan; it contained more than 400 rooms. It was home to the sultan's mother, the Valide Sultan, the concubines and wives of the sultan, and the rest of his family, including children & their servants. Every service team and hierarchical group residing in the harem had its own living space clustered around a courtyard." -wiki-

Upload gambar di fb, pastu ada kawan tegur caption aku 'Harem'. So kenalah bentang explanation. Aku pun ingat-ingat lupa fakta pasal Harem ni, luckily wikipedia ada.

6 April 2015
Harem, Topkapi Palace

I entered the Imperial Harem via Gate of Carts which lead to the Domed Cupboard Chamber. It's where the Harem treasury worked. Back then, there are cupboards in that room which kept the records of deeds of trust. Money from pious foundations & financial records of the imperials family were stored there. Later, I walked into the Hall of the Ablution Fountain. This is where the official entrance into the Harem. Dulu kala guarded by the Eunuchs.

# Courtyard of the Eunuchs.

The eunuchs' quarters & dormitories were built before the Harem's main entrance gate since they also act as guards for the Harem. The rooms on the first floor were for novices while the ones facing the courtyard were for those who worked for the administrative. 

# Standing before the Eunuchs' dormitories. The inscriptions on the facade includes the deeds of trust of the Sultans. 

# The door at the right lead to the Chief Harem Eunuch's apartment. It contains bath, living room & bedrooms. While the school room of the princes under the control of the Chief is above his apartment. 

# Harem main entrance gate.

Obviously this gate separates the Harem in which the family & concubines of the Sultan resided; from the Courtyard of the Eunuchs. This gate leads to three main sections of the Harem. Unfortunately out of the three doors; only door to the Court of the Queen Mother is open to public. Door to the Court of the Concubines is close to public. While door leads to the Sultan's quarters is undergoing some renovation work when I was there. 

The only accessible area for the Court of the Concubines is the Passage of Concubines that leads to the court. There are counters along the passage where eunuchs placed the dishes brought from the kitchens in the palace. Hence, chances for the eunuchs to meet the Concubines at random is almost zero. 

# Very intricate deco work at the Reception Room of the Queen Mother's apartment. 

Together with the Sultan's apartment, they are the largest & most important sections in the Harem. And yet again, the passage that leads the apartment to the Queen Mother's bathroom & Sultan's quarters are close. Too many close sections, mensampah tau. 

# Passed by this fireplace on my way to the Imperial Hall. 

# The Imperial Hall or also known as the Imperial Sofa.

# This hall has the largest dome in the palace.

Imperial Hall served as the official reception hall of the Sultan. Also functioned as entertainment area for the Harem. Entertainment means paying of homage during religious festivals. Wedding ceremonies took place here as well.  

There are few secret doors behind the mirrors which allowed the Sultan a safe passage. As the name suggests, haruslah we didn't know which of the many mirrors act as the secret door. Ngeh!

# Behind me is the Sultan's throne.

# Fountain in the Imperial Hall.

# Most of the walls in the palace are decorated with Iznik tiles. 

# The fountain at the Privy Chamber of Murat III. 

The oldest & finest surviving room in the Harem. The flow of the water was meant to prevent eavesdropping as well as providing a relaxed atmosphere to the room. Creative I must say. 

# Circumcision Room added by Sultan Ibrahim I. 

Circumcision of young princes, occurred here. It is a religion tradition in Islam for cleanliness & purity. 

# The tool used for circumcision. Siap ada tempat khas. In gold somemore. 

After nearly two hours in the Harem, I went out via the Twin Kiosk. 

# Decorative tiles wall & windows in coloured glass at the Apartments of the Crown Prince (Twin Kiosk).

Crown prince live here in seclusion hence the apartment is also called cage. He & the other princes were trained in the discipline of the Ottoman Harem until they reach adulthood. 

# Karakoy could be seen from the terrace. 

# Iftar Kiosk (Iftar Bower)

Overseeing the Golden Horn. It was reported that the Sultan has had the custom to break his fast under this bower during the fasting month. 

# Apartment at the Courtyard of the Favourites. 

In the harem organisation, the Favourites were conceived as the instruments of the perpetuation of the dynasty. When the Favourites became pregnant; they gained the title & powers of the official consort of the Sultan.

# Baghdad Kiosk

# The Terrace Mosque (Sofa Camii).

Digesting too many histories already. Time to let loose. Gitu! Padahal I made a promise earlier with the bestie that I am so gonna spend my me-time at the cafe located below the mosque; facing Bosphorus sea. 

# Konyali Lokantasi cafeteria

# Looking at these now make me drivel once more! Was literally spoil with choices!

The Malay lady who was queuing in front of me had list of must-try dishes/desserts in Istanbul. Nampak sangat eavesdropping conversation orang kan! Anyway, she decided to try the rice pudding. I was tempted to try as well but when asked what's my order by the waiter...I pointed a different dessert. Penyakit fickle-minded tahap infiniti! 

# Satisfied! Dapat jejak Topkapi...and dapat lepak depan Bosphorus as planned. Alhamdulillah.

I sat facing the sea for a good 10 minutes before suddenly it rained heavily. Bukan drizzling macam pagi tu, yang ni tiada ampun terus lebat. Sepantas kilat angkut pinggan & cawan; cari tempat berteduh. Pastu lepak lagi for another half an hour before I exited the palace. Kena tunggu hujan redah juga. 

Walkertapaki from the palace to Eminonu. I just followed the tram tracks. Saja try jalan lain.

# Mendung! It was still drizzling at this time.

Next mission? Mencekik Balik Ekmek. Yesterday I didn't get to try one due to the crowd at the Balik Ekmek ships. This time kena jadi because I will be leaving Istanbul later that night. Ambitious sangat semua pun mau buat in a day!

Anyway, I will update more later. Tangan sudah lenguh menaip.

eryantierdabdulkarim