Word: topkapi
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Dates: during 1961-1961
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...unabashed Turkophile, I was delighted to see your illustrated article on the treasures of the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul [June 23]. However, your reflections on the Turks as brutal conquerors are somewhat onesided. The damage wrought in Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 was, in the light of those times, very slight. Contrast this with the incredible rape, vandalism and slaughter that accompanied the Christian armies of the Fourth Crusade when they sacked Constantinople in 1204. Suleiman I, as well as many others of his dynasty, looks like an angel when compared with many of his "civilized" Christian contemporaries...
Today that throne is housed in the Topkapi Sarayi Museum of Istanbul, one of hundreds of treasures that the avaricious sultans of Turkey accumulated over nearly six centuries. Though regularly seen by tourists, the treasures have rarely been photographed (see color...
...Topkapi Museum was originally a palace built in the 1470s for the retinue of Mohammed the Conqueror. As the empire grew, so did the retinue, until under Suleiman, it numbered more than 5,000. Attached to the imperial household, working in tiny studios scattered through the rambling palace grounds, were artisans and craftsmen whose job was to transform the raw plunder of war into objects that enhanced the glory of the sultan. The artisans also instructed the sultans' sons, for each young prince had to have at least one skill not connected with the throne. Suleiman was an expert...