Topkapı

[Hagia Eirene with Ayasofya in background]

[carvings waiting for repairs]

[tiles in Harem entry hall]

[Harem entry] 

[Tile detail in Harem]

[Venetian mirror in Harem]

[Courtyard of Wives in Harem]

[Mother Sultan's chambers in Harem]

[Sultan's chambers in Harem]

[Sultan's chambers in Harem]

[Tile detail in Sultan's chambers in Harem]

[Sultan's chambers in Harem]

[Sultan's chambers in Harem]

[Galata Tower from Sultan's chambers in Harem]

[One of the Twin Pavilions in Harem]

[In courtyard outside Twin Pavilions]

[Anatolia (Asian Istanbul; foreground) and New District (background)]

They wouldn't let me use my camera in the treasure rooms, but these are some of the things I saw (pilfered shamelessly from wherever I could find them).

[Topkapı Dagger, made famous by the movie Topkapı.]

[The Spoonmaker's Diamond/Kaşıkçı Elması, the fourth largest diamond in the world at 86 carats]

[A headdress.  I can only assume this photo was taken quickly when all the guards were looking in a different direction, since it's somewhat difficult to tell that the square in the middle is not a hole.  It's an emerald, the short edge about the length of my pinky finger.]

My favorite piece doesn't seem to have an existence on the internet at all.  It's an emerald--not too big, maybe two inches in diameter--carved into a box.  There's metal on the bottom so it can sit, and along the edges so it can close and latch, but other than that, it's just one impressive emerald.

m.