Friday in Istanbul

Caveat: I was in Istanbul in late February, but had to prioritize other things around that time so I am just now posting the photos from the last 3 days we were there!

Friday morning began with a visit to the Basilica Cistern in Sultanhamet, built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 532. There are 2 Medusa heads down here! Great place to hide from the rain.

I love all these cafes. .

Very Turkish...Smoking on ruins that are possibly over 1000 years old.

Later in the day I visited the Topkapi Palace in the Seraglio neighborhood. When Mehmet the Conqueror came into town, he set up his residence in this area in 1453, and his ancestors who served as Sultans continued to live here as well until the 19th century when the Dolmabahce Palace was built. The residence of the Sultans was a world completely closed off from the public. The Sultan and his extended family and his harem of women lived here. I found the hierarchy of life here very interesting. The valide sultan (the Sultan’s mother), for instance, wielded a great deal of power and influence over the court and her son, even when he was serving as the ruler of the Empire. Sultans were allowed 4 wives and as many concubines as he could support. The women of the Harem came from other places, bc Islamic law forbade the enslavement of fellow Muslims. Girls ended up here who had been sold by their parents or who were given as gifts by other nobles. I was fortunate to visit not only the palace but the harem as well (if you go on a tour, they don’t take you to the harem).

Inside the harem…

I love how Mustafa Kemal’s image STILL hangs everywhere in state-owned buildings.

After the Topkapi, I visited a rug store, where we were served apple tea, and the man demonstrated how the carpets “fly.” I loved seeing the flying carpets!

While walking I enjoyed seeing Muslim women. On my way to the Spice Bazaar I stopped into see the burial site of some of the Sultans and their families.

Then I went to the Spice Bazaar. This place was so colorful and fun. It was built in the 1660s.

I bought a Turkish tea set and a Turkish coffee set, and of course some tea and coffee.  This place is a tea and coffee drinkers heaven.

After the Spice Bazaar, I walked to the nearby Yeni Camii, known as New Mosque. The New Mosque is not new at all; it was commissioned in 1597 by the valide sultan at the time, Sultan Mehmet III’s mother. Primogeniture didn’t exist in this society and thus the wives who had children with the sultan had to campaign for their sons to become sultan; it was in their son’s best interest, and in their’s, too, given the incredible amount of power the mother of the Sultan exercised. I walked around inside right around 5PM on Friday, which is a prayer day in Islam, so there were a lot of men and women praying in their separate spaces. Fascinating.

The Galata Bridge in the early evening…