Istanbul - Queen of Two Continents: The Harem, the Cisterns

The weather was pleasantly warm at +27°C, despite the sun being covered now and then by a cloud. It turns out that winter temperatures in Istanbul rarely drop below minus 2 or 3 degrees. Such a climate is my brightest dream. :)

We began the second day's excursion at Hippodrome Square (photos 1–3), where grandiose columns can be admired - an obelisk brought from Egypt; the Bronze Column; and the Serpent Column (currently with its heads knocked off).

The route then leads to the Topkapi Palace complex (photos 14–73), which is carefully guarded (armed sentries, metal detectors), as it houses the treasury. We passed through the Gate of Salutation, then the Gate of Felicity, above which a golden heart is hung, and arrived in a garden where fantastically large magnolia trees were in bloom. The white flowers were fragrant and larger than two human palms held together.

We also visited the harem rooms (photos 34–73). Beautiful tiled walls with magnificent patterns, woven floral carpets. Whereas photography was forbidden in the treasury, in the harem rooms we photographed almost every single tile.

The word "harem" comes from Arabic and means "forbidden." Nowhere will you find accounts of this place originating from Muslim lands. The harem was the dwelling of the sultans' wives, concubines, and children, served and guarded by Black enslaved men - eunuchs. Formerly more than 1,000 concubines lived there. I have read that the last woman left the harem in 1909.

How many wives could a sultan have at most? It turns out only 18, as all wives were divided into three castes or levels. In the first - the most beloved, from whom the sultan's heirs usually came; a maximum of 4 wives. In the second - 6 wives. In the third - a maximum of 8, brought from conquered lands, servants.

The next attraction was the Basilica Cistern, the former city water reservoir (photos 5–12). Today only about 1 metre of water remains, in which small and large fish swim. The ceiling is supported by 336 columns 8 metres tall, each illuminated; condensed water drips from the ceiling at regular intervals. Two of the columns rest on bases featuring carved Medusa heads. Some columns are distinctive in appearing to consist of two seemingly separate parts - visually they look rather unstable, but in reality they have safely supported the heavy vaulted ceiling for several centuries.

In the evening we went to a leather factory-shop, and then to the Grand Bazaar. But that is a separate story about the Turkish passion for trading and the little bazaar-hell - read on next.