 |
| [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.
