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An Istanbul Must See — The Topkapi Palace, the Former Center of Ottoman of Power

By Anita Mathias

A guest post by Roy Mathas
Topkapi Palace is an highlight in Istanbul.  Luckily we went off season, so it was not too crowded.   The former Ottoman palace is exquisitely decorated in tiles of varying hues of blue and green.    I hope this post is not TMI (too many images).    Any suggestions of easy ways, using GIMP or Picassa or Photoshop, to straighten pictures without losing resolution or remove glare from the flash would be appreciated.
Irene tiptoeing to be taller than her mother. 

The star attraction of Topkapi is the harem.  Here is the first decorated room in the harem.  Our response was “Wow, definitely worth the extra admission charge.”  The self guided tour is organised so that each section is more impressive than the previous, so you are always saying “Why did we spend so log on the beginning” and  never “Oh, just another room.”

An exterior passageway

The palace was destroyed by two great fires, so perhaps it is OK to spoil a photo with a fire extinguisher.

A single tile

A single tile from the wall above.

A couple of border tiles

A lovely geometric pattern on the wall

Closer sinspection reveals the details (for some reason it looks green from a ditance)

and here is a single hexagonal tile

 The Queen Mother’s apartment is the grandest living area in the women’s area.  The room, tiles from floor to ceiling has a fireplace, and cupboards.

Here is the ceiling of another room in her apartement

and Irene photographing it

Inlaid mother-of-pear cabinet

detail

A border

Harem comes from the Arabic  (ḥaram) ‘something prohibited; sanctuary, women’.  Most of the Harem is enclosed, wit few windows.  We are outside again, in a courtyard.

 The walls under the arches are tiled

 A wall by the Sultan’s chamber

and a close up

The Sultan’s chamber. Naturally the largest and grandest room, but actually, the crown prince’s rooms, being  smaller have a greater intensity of decoration.

An alcove with three shelves (still in the sultan’s chamber)

Half the ceiling and the top of a wall (sky lights in the very center)

A couple of details of the painted arches

Corner of sultan’s chamber

In the next room, a water tap for ritual washing

detail

More decorated alcoves

Next we move to a remarkably beautiful room, that seemd to be just the meeting place for two corridors. Ceiling and top of the walls

Five shots of a truly beautiful wall — I will have to find more pics of it

One of the two crown prince’s rooms.

Top of the wall

Detail

Further refined

This incredibly detailed work is about 10 feet up — well above eye level!

The crown prince’s room was well endowed with windows, but visitors can only access part of the room, hence the angled shots.

Gilded alchoves

What looks like the tree of life.

This looks like a carpet made of tiles.  (This needs to be straightened, but Picassa’s straighten tool loses resolution.)

Rhe top of the wall and a little of  the ceiling

The ceiling

A brillliant panel in a narrow passage bewteen two rooms

Outside, again.  The outside of the crown prince’s rooms

Still no expense spared. Notice the tiling between the windows, and the gilded decoration on the eaves.

Gilded decoration on the eaves
Tiling at the base of the wall
An unusual wall panel, that seems to tell a story

A long tiled wall

and it’s time for a very late and well deserved lunch at the restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus

There is lot more to Topkapi.  Here is the Sultan’s library — a large bright airy pavilion in the gardens

The divan and Hall of state

Entrance to hall of state

A corner of the Hall of state

Detail of an archway in the Hall of State

A couple of tulips

It was a beautiful day

A final glimpse of the Blue Mosque on the way out.

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Comments

  1. Anita says

    April 22, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Thanks, Claudia. I'll tell Roy who loves to play with Picasa, and did this post, but forgot to put his name to it. Ouch for the typos!!

  2. Claudia says

    April 22, 2012 at 5:28 am

    Fascinating seeing your photos etc. It's a place I'd love to visit someday.

    Sometimes I play with the “create a collage” feature in Picasa to group similar pictures into one. Here's an example of one I've done: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HyhaXx-VkHk/T1W3QbCVUiI/AAAAAAAABI0/l7K_DUrE4js/w425-h266-k/Recently%2BUpdated.jpg

    Look forward to reading more of your travels!

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Anita Mathias: About Me

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My Books

Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India

Wandering Between Two Worlds - Amazon.com
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Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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Francesco, Artist of Florence: The Man Who Gave Too Much

Francesco, Artist of Florence - Amazom.com
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The Story of Dirk Willems

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Premier Digital Awards 2015 - Finalist - Blogger of the year
Runner Up Christian Media Awards 2014 - Tweeter of the year

Recent Posts

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anita.mathias

If you'll forgive me for adding to the noise of th If you'll forgive me for adding to the noise of the world on Black Friday, my memoir ,Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India, is on sale on Kindle all over the world for a few days. 
Carolyn Weber (who has written "Surprised by Oxford," an amazing memoir about coming to faith in Oxford https://amzn.to/3XyIftO )  has written a lovely endorsement of my memoir:
"Joining intelligent winsomeness with an engaging style, Anita Mathias writes with keen observation, lively insight and hard earned wisdom about navigating the life of thoughtful faith in a world of cultural complexities. Her story bears witness to how God wastes nothing and redeems all. Her words sing of a spirit strong in courage, compassion and a pervasive dedication to the adventure of life. As a reader, I have been challenged and changed by her beautifully told and powerful story - so will you."
The memoir is available on sale on Amazon.co.uk at https://amzn.to/3u0Ib8o and on Amazon.com at https://amzn.to/3u0IBvu and is reduced on the other Amazon sites too.
Thank you, and please let me know if you read and enjoy it!! #memoir #indianchildhood #india
Second birthday party. Determinedly escaping! So i Second birthday party. Determinedly escaping!
So it’s a beautiful November here in Oxford, and the trees are blazing. We will soon be celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary…and are hoping for at least 33 more!! 
And here’s a chapter from my memoir of growing up Catholic in India… rosaries at the grotto, potlucks, the Catholic Family Movement, American missionary Jesuits, Mangaloreans, Goans, and food, food food…
https://anitamathias.com/2022/11/07/rosaries-at-the-grotto-a-chapter-from-my-newly-published-memoir-rosaries-reading-steel-a-catholic-childhood-in-india/
Available on Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3Apjt5r and on Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3gcVboa and wherever Amazon sells books, as well as at most online retailers.
#birthdayparty #memoir #jamshedpur #India #rosariesreadingsecrets
Friends, it’s been a while since I blogged, but Friends, it’s been a while since I blogged, but it’s time to resume, and so I have. Here’s a blog on an absolutely infallible secret of joy, https://anitamathias.com/2022/10/28/an-infallible-secret-of-joy/
Jenny Lewis, whose Gilgamesh Retold https://amzn.to/3zsYfCX is an amazing new translation of the epic, has kindly endorsed my memoir. She writes, “With Rosaries, Reading and Secrets, Anita Mathias invites us into a totally absorbing world of past and present marvels. She is a natural and gifted storyteller who weaves history and biography together in a magical mix. Erudite and literary, generously laced with poetic and literary references and Dickensian levels of observation and detail, Rosaries is alive with glowing, vivid details, bringing to life an era and culture that is unforgettable. A beautifully written, important and addictive book.”
I would, of course, be delighted if you read it. Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3gThsr4 and Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3WdCBwk #joy #amwriting #amblogging #icecreamjoy
Wandering around Oxford with my camera, photograph Wandering around Oxford with my camera, photographing ancient colleges! Enjoy.
And just a note that Amazon is offering a temporary discount on my memoir, Rosaries, Reading, Steel https://amzn.to/3UQN28z . It’s £7.41.
Here’s an endorsement from my friend, Francesca Kay, author of the beautiful novel, “An Equal Stillness.” This is a beautifully written account of a childhood, so evocative, so vivid. The textures, colours and, above all, the tastes of a particular world are lyrically but also precisely evoked and there was much in it that brought back very clear memories of my own. Northern India in the 60s, as well as Bandra of course – dust and mercurochrome, Marie biscuits, the chatter of adult voices, the prayers, the fruit trees, dogs…. But, although you rightly celebrate the richness of that world, you weave through this magical remembrance of things past a skein of sadness that makes it haunting too. It’s lovely!” #oxford #beauty
So, I am not going to become a book-bore, I promis So, I am not going to become a book-bore, I promise, but just to let you know that my memoir "Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India," is now available in India in paperback. https://www.amazon.in/s?k=rosaries+reading+secrets&crid=3TLDQASCY0WTH&sprefix=rosaries+r%2Caps%2C72&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_10My endorsements say it is evocative, well-written, magical, haunting, and funny, so I'd be thrilled if you bought a copy on any of the Amazon sites. 
Endorsements 
A beautifully written account. Woven through this magical remembrance of things past is a skein of sadness that makes it haunting. Francesca Kay, An Equal Stillness. 
A dazzling vibrant tale of childhood in post-colonial India. Mathias conjures 1960s India and her family in uproarious and heart-breaking detail. Erin Hart, Haunted Ground 
Mathias invites us into a wonderfully absorbing and thrilling world of past and present marvels… generously laced with poetic and literary references and Dickensian levels of observation and detail. A beautifully written, important, and addictive book. Jenny Lewis, Gilgamesh Retold 
Tormented, passionate and often sad, Mathias’s beautiful childhood memoir is immensely readable. Trevor Mostyn, Coming of Age in The Middle East.
A beautifully told and powerful story. Joining intelligent winsomeness with an engaging style, Mathias writes with keen observation, lively insight and hard-earned wisdom. Carolyn Weber, Surprised by Oxford 
A remarkable account. A treasure chest…full of food (always food), books (always books), a family with all its alliances and divisions. A feat of memory and remembrance. Philip Gooden, The Story of English
Anita’s pluck and charm shine through every page of this beautifully crafted, comprehensive and erudite memoir. 
Ray Foulk, Picasso’s Revenge
Mathias’s prose is lively and evocative. An enjoyable and accessible book. Sylvia Vetta, Sculpting the Elephant
Anita Mathias is an is an accomplished writer. Merryn Williams, Six Women Novelists
Writing a memoir awakens fierce memories of the pa Writing a memoir awakens fierce memories of the past. For the past is not dead; it’s not even past, as William Faulkner observed. So what does one do with this undead past? Forgive. Forgive, huh? Forgive. Let it go. Again and again.
Some thoughts on writing a memoir, and the prologue to my memoir
https://anitamathias.com/2022/09/08/thoughts-on-writing-a-memoir-the-prologue-to-rosaries-reading-secrets/ 
#memoir #amwriting #forgiveness https://amzn.to/3B82CDo
Six months ago, Roy and I decided that finishing t Six months ago, Roy and I decided that finishing the memoir was to be like “the treasure in the field,” that Jesus talks about in the Gospels, which you sacrifice everything to buy. (Though of course, he talks about an intimate relationship with God, not finishing a book!!) Anyway, I’ve stayed off social media for months… but I’ve always greatly enjoyed social media (in great moderation) and it’s lovely to be back with the book now done  https://amzn.to/3eoRMRN  So, our family news: Our daughter Zoe is training for ministry as a priest in the Church of England, at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. She is “an ordinand.” In her second year. However, she has recently been one of the 30 ordinands accepted to work on an M.Phil programme (fully funded by the Church of England.) She will be comparing churches which are involved in community organizing with churches which are not, and will trace the impact of community organizing on the faith of congregants.  She’ll be ordained in ’24, God willing.
Irene is in her final year of Medicine at Oxford University; she will be going to Toronto for her elective clinical work experience, and will graduate as a doctor in June ‘23, God willing.
And we had a wonderful family holiday in Ireland in July, though that already feels like a long time ago!
https://anitamathias.com/2022/09/01/rosaries-readi https://anitamathias.com/2022/09/01/rosaries-reading-secrets-a-catholic-childhood-in-india-my-new-memoir/
Friends, some stellar reviews from distinguished writers, and a detailed description here!!
https://amzn.to/3wMiSJ3 Friends, I’ve written a https://amzn.to/3wMiSJ3  Friends, I’ve written a memoir of my turbulent Catholic childhood in India. I would be grateful for your support!
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