Istanbul and the Topkapi Palace

Most of the day was spent at the Topkapi Palace which was built beyween 1459 and 1465 as the main residence of Mehmet II. It consists of a series of buildings contained in four enormous courtyards. There is a series of  carved calligraphy tablets along one of the covered walkways.

Most of the rooms including all the rooms in the Harem have their walls covered in really beautiful hand painted, hand glazed ceramic Iznik tiles which were produced between 1459 and 1520. The predominat colour in the ties is cobalt blue and white.

The Palace is constantly being refurbished and some sections were closd during our visit. Where tiles are damaged or missing then the surface is plastered and the original design is hand painted onto the surface. I had to look at this design very carefully as it was on quite a large section of wall and I was certain that they must have used a stencil!

Many of the rooms have shelves and cupboards that are covered with doors that have exquisate mother of pearl inlay.

What was left of the afternoon wasspent at the Basilica Cistern. This is a vast underwater  cistern dating back to 532. There are 336 marble columns each over 8 metres tall and  originally held over 100 milion litres of water.

And on the way back to our hotel a glimpse of the Blue Mosque which we will visit tomorrow.