< PreviousHISTORY IN COLOUR Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace is a citadel of astounding luxury and hidden intrigue Words Amy Bradford Photography Mark Luscombe-Whyte 142 AR E NA/ Is ta nbul AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14209/12/2019 05:38:04 PMIMPERIAL HALL The large, domed space was built in the 1580s and used for musical entertainments and celebrations. The decorations refl ect various periods of alteration and embellishment. Behind a mirrored panel on one wall lies a secret passage where the sultan entered discreetly. AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14309/12/2019 05:38:21 PMAR E NA/ Is ta nbul l To understand the palace’s arcane glamour, it is fi rst necessary to know a little about the extraordinary man who created it. Sultan Mehmet II began construction in 1459 after conquering what was then Constantinople. He established a complex layout, with his private quarters and harem at the core, sur- rounded and protected by four courtyards. The whole was enclosed by high walls and gated by two forbidding towers (on which the severed heads of traitors would be dis- played). From the start, Mehmet was ob- sessed by craftsmanship, gathering the best stonemasons and carpenters around him, and regularly adding to or remodelling buildings as the whim struck. Visitors re- marked on Topkapi’s curious layout, and as time passed its eccentricities multiplied. Mehmet was a man of great culture: he entertained scholars and artists from around the world, founded uni- versities, and transformed Istanbul into a modern city. By 1480, when he was painted in hawkish profi le by the great Venetian artist Giovanni Bellini, he was already presiding over his own Eastern Renaissance. Bellini’s portrait, showing Mehmet clad in furs and fl anked by a bejewelled cloth, sparked a craze for Orientalism that reverberated throughout Europe for centuries. But as well as being a sophisticate, he was also a ruthless warrior and ruler, and it showed in Topkapi’s everyday life. For one thing, there was the Tower of Justice, visible from most parts of the city, whose upper reaches were used to surveille the populace, warding off revolts. The Imperial Council met in its domed chamber with rococo decoration, fully aware that the sultan himself was con- cealed behind a grille, listening in. When he was in an in- dulgent mood, he would hold court in the second court- yard, seated on a golden throne; gazelles and peacocks roamed the lawns. But not far away was the Fountain of the Executioner, where legend has it that the sultan’s henchman washed his sword after dispensing justice. ABOVE: The smaller domes of the Imperial Hall are richly painted. 144 DIVAN LOUNGE OPPOSITE PAGE: The 15th-century divanhane, one of three adjoining rooms in the Imperial Council chamber. Panelled in marble and decorated with baroque frescoes, it was used for meetings of the Grand Viziers, or Ottoman Prime Ministers, and for other state meetings. F ONE HAD BUT A SINGLE GLANCE T O GIVE THE W ORLD , one should gaze on Istanbul,” Alphonse de Lamartine once said. By the mid 19th-century, when the French states- man was rhapsodising about the city, the Ottoman Empire was on the wane, but its chief landmark, the Topkapi Palace, remained a dazzlin symbol of its allure. Like The Vatican and the Forbidden City, Topkapi is not so much a palace as a citadel, sitting high on a promontory overlooking the Golden Horn and the Bos- phorus. It rambles over 173 acres, populated by armour- ies, apartments, bathhouses, kitchens, libraries and a church (the Hagia Eirene is one of Istanbul’s oldest). Since 1924 – a year after Turkey became a republic – it has been a museum, where visitors are lured by or- nate tiled walls and collections of jewels, relics and tex- tiles, as well as courtyard gardens studded with trees and fountains. It all seems tranquil enough, but delve a little deeper and something more sinister emerges. As if to mir- ror its labyrinthine structure, Topkapi’s court was for a long time shrouded in secrecy, intrigue, and murder. AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14409/12/2019 05:38:40 PM69 AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14509/12/2019 05:39:05 PMIFTAREE PAVILION With magnifi cent views over the Golden Horn, the Iftaree Pavilion – also known as the “Moonlit Seat” – was built in 1640 during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim. The tulip-shaped decoration on top refl ects a court craze for the fl ower during the early 18th century. The gilded gazebo was used for breakfast by the sultan, and for giving out gold to offi cials. AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14609/12/2019 05:39:12 PM147 FOUNTAIN OF THE LIBRARY OF SULTAN AHMED III This fountain sits in front of the Library of Sultan Ahmed III, also known as the Enderûn Library. Considered a masterpiece of the Tulip Period (1718-30), it was commissioned by the bibliophile sultan as a symbol of the importance of learning at his court. The gilding on the fountain makes a pleasing contrast with the mother-of-pearl and ivory inlays inside the building. AR E NA/ Is ta nbul AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14709/12/2019 05:39:25 PMPRIVY CHAMBER OF SULTAN MURAD III Designed by the court’s chief architect Sinan in 1579, the Privy Room of Sultan Murad III is the oldest and fi nest surviving space in the harem, and has its original interior, complete with Iznik tiles and verses inscribed from the Qur’an. It was used as the sultan’s private apartment. 148 AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14809/12/2019 05:39:41 PMAPARTMENTS OF THE QUEEN MOTHER OF MURAD III The Queen Mother’s apartments date from the late 16th century and form the largest and most important section of the harem. They include a music room, dining room, reception room and bedroom and are decorated with intricate Iznik porcelain tiles – including those on this elegant fi replace. AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 14909/12/2019 05:40:15 PMBATHS OF THE SULTAN AND QUEEN MOTHER The marble-clad baths of the Sultan (above) and Queen Mother (opposite page), built in the 16th century, have underfl oor heating (similar to Roman versions) and separate sections for cold, warm and hot bathing. The golden cages look delicate but have a sinister hidden purpose – to protect the sultan from assassins while he was at his most vulnerable. The baths as a whole separated the sultan’s apartments from the women’s quarters in the harem. 150 AR E NA/ Is ta nbul AD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 15009/12/2019 05:40:46 PMAD_142-155_Arena_Topkapi Palace_10976435.indd 15109/12/2019 05:41:07 PMNext >