(Part 8) Traversing Turkey: Istanbul's Secrets!!

- Dec. 30, 2019, Monday.

- Istanbul is a vibrant city of surprises despite its calm ambiance - or maybe I felt it was rather "calm" since it was winter when tourism experiences its low season. Although I wouldn't say that it isn't as colorful on the outside as I thought it would be (as compared to India's colors that overwhelm you the moment you land in one of its main airports,) much of Turkey's surprises can be found indoors - inside palaces, restaurants, museums, and bazaars.

- We started our day after a short photo stop in front of the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, before returning to the Topkapi Palace, which our tour group visited a couple of days prior (see here). My family decided to visit it again - now that we were on our own - as we weren't able to fully explore all its exhibition halls, including the palace harem. The Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sophia are located near the Sultanahmet tram stop. As explained in my earlier post, the Topkapi Palace was built in the 1400s as the main palace after the Ottomans took over Istanbul after defeating the European Byzantines in the 1200s, and established their Islamic Empire from this old capital.

Hagia Sophia.

Full Turkish-inspired garb in front of the Blue Mosque.

Another one in front of the Blue Moque.

- We started our palace visit by going inside the harem, which has a separate ticket from the main palace. The harem contains many of the royal family's private chambers, and the halls of the palace's female slaves (i.e. concubines,) the queen mother (Valide Sultana,) and the eunuchs who run the harem. Apart from the royal family, consorts, and the eunuch guards, no one was allowed beyond the harem. Because of this, many of what happens in the palace (sometimes, even the development of political agenda) actually take place in the harem and its more than 400 rooms.

View from the entrance of the harem.

Chamber of the Queen Mother.

Decorated, don't expect any less.

Royal toilet.

The highlight of the harem, the imperial hall (seat at the right is the sultan's throne.)

Hall of the favorite concubines.

Harem mosque.

The golden road: the main entrance of the harem. Some say it is called as such because of golden coins thrown to the concubines during festivities, but it may also be called such as it is the "road" to the sultan's and the princes' private chambers in case a concubine was chosen to spend the night with the sultan or any of the princes.

- After leaving the harem, we were able to explore much of the palace, which included several ornamented kiosks, the library, kitchen, and the council room. The council room stood out because of its golden color.

Library.

Outside the Baghdad Kiosk, which was built after Sultan Murad IV captured Baghdad in the 1600s.

View of the Bosphorus (and the Galata Tower) from the terrace.

The actual throne of Sultan Mahmud II, from the 1800s.

The circumcision room, and yes, it functions as what the name of the room suggests.

The Sultan Ahmed III library fountain, located outside the library of the same name. It was built in the 1700s as a benefit to the Enderun School students. The Enderun School is the building which houses the library, and the school was used to educated the royal family, as well as non-Muslim boys that the Ottoman palace took from different territories as a way to train them to be good Muslims and eventually serve the palace as able guards and soldiers.  

Interior of the council hall.

Where council meetings were held.

Council hall entrance.

- We had a regular Turkish kebab lunch before visiting the Basilica Cistern, also located in the old town. Built in the 6th century during the rule of Byzantine ruler Justinian I, it functioned as any other cistern - an underground water storage. However, what makes this cistern interesting is not only its size, but also the appearance of the pillars, as well as its creative use of Medusa heads formerly found in a different building, but were repurposed as pillar bases.

Who knew that this existed under the modern roads of Istanbul!!

Hen's eye pillar.

Sideways Medusa.

Upside down Medusa.

- From Sultanahmet tram stop, we rode the tram to Eminonu tram stop to visit the Spice Bazaar, also called the Egyptian Bazaar. Built in the 1600s, roughly two centuries after the Grand Bazaar was built, this bazaar was the main center of spice trade in Istanbul, while the Grand Bazaar remained the main center for textile trade. The Spice Bazaar was initially called the "New Bazaar" as it was newer than the Grand Bazaar, but eventually gained the name "Egyptian" Bazaar as it was built from the revenues of Egypt, which back then was part of the Ottoman Empire. Today, spice markets still line the halls of the bazaar. However, what I really wanted to see were the shops OUTSIDE the Spice Bazaar, which sold cheaper souvenirs, and Turkish-style play jewelry.

Spice Bazaar.

By the way, just a tip: if you say "market" in Turkey, that usually refers to a grocery or a supermarket. If you want to visit places such as this one, it's called a "bazaar."

Spices!

Can you show me your world of spices hmmmmm??

I love the paintings and calligraphy on the ceilings and walls of the bazaar.

- To take cover from the rain and to have some time to rest, we tried this restaurant that sold a popular Turkish snack called "kokorec" ("ko-ko-rech.") It can come in the form of a burrito/roll or a sandwich, but do note that the meat filling is actually lamb or goat intestine and other innards. As a Filipino who eats food like isaw (grilled intestine) and sisig, the kokorec was a pure delight! It did not have too much for the game-y smell or taste (maybe it's just me, or depending on who made the kokorec), and you'd feel that you're just eating any other kind of ground meat.

Kokorec.

- We went back to the hotel after eating our kokorec as it was getting dark, and the rain would not stop falling. Although the rain really did....rain on our parade that day, it did not stop me from exploring the (not so hidden) secrets and colors of Istanbul behind its walls and under its roads!!

- Don't forget to read about my other adventures in Turkey:

Part 1, Troy and the Trojan Horse: here

Part 2, Virgin Mary's House and Ephesus: here

Part 3, Laodicea on the Lycus and the Alien Travertines: here

Part 4, Konya: here

Part 5, Cappadocia: here

Part 6, Istanbul's Royal Old Town: here

Part 7, Istanbul Between Continents: here

Part 9, Istanbul on New Year's Eve: here