Day 207: İstanbul

Oct 27 - Still some travel admin to take care of, but have to wait until businesses open for the day in the US (7-10 hours behind). In the meantime, take the T1 metro out to the last stop on the line beside the Bosphorus, at the Kabataş station. Walk the last bit to the entrance of the Dolmabahçe Sarayi (Palace).

In retrospect, the Ottoman Empire was becoming quite outdated and corrupt by the 1800’s. But the momentum of all that wealth and influence over a wide geographic region kept it going, and kept the ruling class in their requisite opulent splendor. Sultan Abdulmecid I (r. 1839-61), the 31st in his line, decided that the Topkapi Palace did not meet the modern standards then being set in Europe for royal palaces. In an effort to keep up with the big boys, he set about ordering the construction of a new royal residence, just about within sight of Topkapi. It was completed in 1856.

Dolmabahçe Palace has 285 rooms, 46 halls, 6 hammams, and, most importantly, 68 toilets. The architectural style is very European-centric, and in almost no way resembles Topkapi. It would have been nice to get some photos of the interior, but no photos are allowed and I didn’t feel like getting yelled at. There was plenty of yelling going on already. When I visited 30 years ago, I could understand when a tourist I was standing next to was berated for using her flash, but these days, everyone is just using a cell phone with ambient light. I don’t really get where the paranoia about picture taking is coming from.

I won’t attempt to describe it all, but the main palace takes over an hour to walk through. All of it is still furnished. A large northern wing housed the harem, which may conjure up hordes of scantily clad women laying around on cushions, but in reality was just the extended family of the sultan, including his mother and numerous children. Again, furniture, vases, chandeliers, and massive carpets all remain in their original positions. It is amazing what can be preserved when a city escapes being destroyed in any of the many wars through the last few centuries.

The palace complex, interestingly, remained a seat of government even through the changes of the early 20th century. The Ottoman Empire was very weak from the turn of the century, and a series of disastrous military losses prior to WWI was capped by picking the wrong horse in WWI. The end result was the loss of most of its territory. By 1922, the Ottoman Empire officially was dissolved and the sultan forced into exile. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, first president of the newly formed country of Turkey, chose to use the palace (intermittently) throughout his tenure, despite its Ottoman history.

One of the biggest attractions here is Ataturk’s deathbed. He died here in 1938, and the room where it happened is preserved, including the clock that supposedly stopped working the moment he died. Well, except that when we went, parts of it were covered in scaffolding.

Wrap up the most important online tasks in the evening, and eat at our favorite cheap restaurant down the street. Will once again be leaving some bags in the hotel, as traveling with less weight is proving itself much easier.