Istanbul and its harems

Istanbul is the only place we can have breakfast in Europe and have lunch in Asia, with no rush. The western half of the city sits in Europe while the eastern half is situated in Asia.

"You just have to cross the Bosphorus Strait and, voila, you are in Asia. Two bridges between the two continents are the Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge," our guide, Oz, says.

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and one of the oldest. It outshines the present capital city, Ankara, since it is the heart of economy and has served as the capital city for many eras from the Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire. 

Our hotel locates in the modern area of Istanbul so our coach has to goes through the modern road to the narrow and curvy street in the old city area where most of the historical attractions are located.

We jump off the bus at Sultanahmet Square where we see tons of tourists taking picture of three columns in the square.

"The old name of Sultanahmet Square is Hippodrome. In Greek, hippos means horse and dromos means path. This place was for horse and chariot racing which were very popular in the old world and Hippodromes were common features of Greek cities.

"These three columns are Obelisk of Thutmose III from Egypt, the Serpent column from Greece and Constantine Obelisk which named after Constantine VII," a guide explains to the group while we walk past them.

We walk via the middle of the Hippodrome to the main courtyard of the mosque where we can see the perfect proportions of the building. There is quite a crowd in front of the entrance since everybody has to take off the shoes and put them in the provided plastic bags.

Thank god that I wear fresh pair of socks, or else I might stink up the holy place.

 "If you ask the locals where the Blue Mosque is, you might not get the answer because they call it the Sultan Ahmed Mosque," Oz explains in low voice trying not to disturb people praying in the prayer area.

The mosque was built around 1609 during the reign of Sultan Ahmed I. The royal architect Sedefhar Mehmet Aga designed this mosque with six minarets, unlike other mosques which have one to four minarets. The Sultan was criticised for being arrogant, since at the time only the mosque of the Ka'aba in Mecca had six minarets. To end the criticism, the sultan built another minaret at the Mecca mosque.

Just a short walk from the Blue Mosque, we are at Hagia Sophia, a former church, later a mosque and now a museum. The current structure is not the original, which was claimed to be built by Constantine the Great thousand years ago. The first and the second church were burnt down by riots and the third church was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian I.

After the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted into the Ayasofya Mosque. Most of the mosaics depicted the Virgin Mother, Jesus, saints or emperors and empresses were plastered over during this period. In 1935, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder and the first president of the Republic of Turkey, transformed the building into a museum. The white plaster covering many of the mosaics was removed by expert restorers.

Some of the mosaics were peeled off by those who believed that the piece of the paint from these holy people will bless them or cure their illnesses. Some people even eat the paint.

The next attraction is the Topkapi Palace, which was the official residence of the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years.

"Is there a harem in the palace? Is it the place for the sultans' female slaves?" asked my friend.

"The harem was home to the women in the palace including sultan's mother, the wives of the sultan, the concubines, the children and their servants. Actually, harem means private so the harem is like the private apartments for the sultan and his family. Sultan is the only man who can enter harem.

"At some point harem is like a girl's school. Young girls were sold to the harem to learn how to read, write and serve the sultan's family. If the sultan grants them freedom, highranked officers are willing to accept them as a wife because they are well-educated," Oz explains.

Topkopi Palace has a harem and four main courtyards: the first courtyard is the park, the second courtyard is used as a gathering place for courtiers, the third courtyard is the inner palace for the sultan and the fourth courtyard is an innermost private sanctuary of the sultan and his family. At the height of the dynasty, it was home to 4,000 people.

The highlight is the Imperial Treasury where collection of works of art and jewellery belonged to the Ottoman dynasty are on display.

Another Ottoman palace is Dolmabahce, which was served as the main administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922. This palace has a great meaning for Turkish people because it was the place Mustafa Kemal Ataturk spent the last day of his life. All the clocks in the palace were stopped at 9.05 am, the time Ataturk passed away on November 10, 1938.

Unlike the Topkapi Palace, we can't wander around by ourselves and we have to cover our shoes with the shower-cap-liked-plastic bag to protect the carpet and the floor of the palace.

"The only way to see the interior of Dolmabahce is with a guided tour so please keep up with the group and please keep your voice down," Oz tells us while waiting for our booked time.

It is quite hard to hear Oz explaining about each room in the palace because she cannot speak up.  The palace leaflets explaining the floor plan and short description of each room give me a big help.

Every room in Dolmabache Palace is decorated in the way it was when the Ottoman Sultan was in the palace. One of the hightlights is the world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier in the centre hall. It is a gift from Queen Victoria and it has 750 lamps and weighs 4.5 tonnes.

On my way to the beautiful garden of Dolmabache Palace, I couldn't help but thinking of Shelly's poem Ozymandias which says that the might and majesty of a man, even a king, do not last; only great art endures.

(The writer travelled in Turkey as a guest of Turkish Airlines.)

If you go …

Turkish Airlines flies daily from Bangkok to Istanbul. Check for the best price at www.turkishairlines.com.