Dolmapahce or Topkapi Palace? Which one is more favourable?

Monday July 6 2009

I am finding it difficult to recollect thoughts when I am not writing at the moment so this will be a summary of the visits.

There were several palaces in Istanbul (one of them has been converted into a Kempinski Hotel on the Bosphorus and apparently is around $5000 a night!) and I have yet to research further fully into all of the Palaces. However, Dolmapahce and Topkapi are the 2 palaces most tourists can visit.

We went to visit Dolmapahce first, and it was pretty impressive as I mentioned in my earlier blog. Dolmapahce is definitely a European style palace and still has the furnishings in it from the Sultans, such as beds, chairs, pictures on the walls, etc. We were not allowed to take any photos inside of the Palace. The paints on the walls were apparently original paints made from natural sources. The ceilings were gold plated. On this visit we did not see the Harem part of the Palace.

I must quickly explain what the harem is. Most people think of harem as an assortment of women available to a man at any time. It generally means the private area of the house, where the family lives, although , I must add that these Sultans did nothing to counteract the idea of harem in the West! There were literally hundreds of women (mostly concubines) living in these harem areas.

Topkapi palace is much larger and spread out in size. It is definitely a Turkish or Ottoman style Palace. The tile work on the walls and ceilings as well as mother-of-pearl finishings amongst the tile work is quite impressive. It was built in the 1400's by one of the Sultans. There were rooms for specific functions, official dinners/reception, a circumcision room, etc. On this visit we did go into the harem section. We were shown the Mother of the Sultans apartment (apparently at the time of teh Sultan's rule, it was the Mother of the Sultan who ruled the Palace!). He even shared a bath with his Mother as well. There were all these protocols with how women in the harem could manage to advance to official wives of the Sultan, if they managed to successfully educate themselves and if they were beautiful as well.