Day #4

Today was day four of exploring the sights of Istanbul. We had an early departure from our hotel at 8:45 for another half day of touring. Our first visit was to the Archeological Museum. Outside, we were reminded by Saba that when we walked past the gate, we were already in Topkapi palace, as the palace grounds covers an area of five square kilometers, or nine square miles. 

There we were introduced to the revolutionary Osman Hamdi Bey. He established his legacy by becoming the first Turkish archeologist, in an effort to reclaim the rich Turkish archeological relics, that were being discovered and exported to outside nations. He was also known for the iconic “turtle trainer” painting. Once inside the museum, we observed incredible sarcophagi, writings, statues, coins, and other ottoman era remains.

We exited the museum and Dr. Carignan pulled us aside to peek into the “Hagia Irene” an Eastern Orthodox Church in the outer courtyard of the Topkapi palace. This is possibly the earliest church in Turkey. It was designed to have incredible acoustics, which is why today it is partly in use as a concert venue. 

Leaving the Hagia Irini, we moved on to the inner courtyards of the Topkapi palace. We were able to have a more intimate look at where the sultan and his 4000 closest subjects lived. 3000 of that list were guards called janissaries, usually orphaned men from the Balkans, a people group that were known for their tall stature. The other 1000 was made up of the sultan, his family, and concubines. We went into the harem where this one thousand would live, and Saba described the lives of the wives, concubines, children and servants. Despite the pleasing design of the harem, the life of any servant to the sultan did not always reflect that, it was often involuntary, and met with rankings, family politics, and murders. You could say it was the same as imprisonment or worse. Fun fact, the closest servants to the sultan would undergo an operation to be made deaf, ensuring that there would be no surveillance of important meetings.  

Lastly we were set free to explore the rest of the palace, then have the rest of the afternoon to disassemble and find lunch in small groups. Some of the sections of the palace we explored on our own were: holy relics, panorama, calligraphy, treasury, and clothes. Overall, it was another good day of experiencing Ottoman history! And exercising! We walked almost eight miles before lunch!
-Maddie