Topkap Saray - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 70

domes go back to Fatih's time, the other eight to that of Beyazit
II, while the cone-like chimneys in front of them are additions by
Sinan, who reconstructed much of this area for Murat III after the
devastating fire of 1574. Each kitchen had a separate use: for the
Sultan, for the Valide, the eunuchs, the harem ladies, the Divan, and
so on; but the assignments varied from time to time.
Today the kitchens are used for the display of the Saray's
incomparable collection of Chinese porcelain and other china and
glass. The Chinese collection is said to be the third richest and most
varied in the world, surpassed only by those at Beijing and Dresden.
Begun by Beyazit II, augmented by Selim I and above all by Süleyman
the Magnificent, the pieces date from the wonderful celadons of the
Sung and Yuan dynasties (A.D. 960-1368) to the later Ming of
the eighteenth century. The European specimens, Limoges, Sèvres,
Meissen and others, are less impressive. In the last two kitchens
there is a fascinating collection of antique kitchen utensils, including
platters, bowls, ladles and kazans, or bronze cauldrons of prodigious
size, all of which were once used in the Saray kitchens. The small
building with three domes at the north end of the courtyard is
variously described as the confectioner's mosque or as an olive-oil
refinery and soap manufactory; doubtless it served diferent purposes
at diferent times. It now houses an interesting collection of Turkish
glass from the Beykoz and other Istanbul factories of the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries, some of it very lovely.
Leaving the kitchen precincts, we approach the third gate, the
Bab-üs Saadet, or Gate of Felicity, the entrance to the strictly
private parts of the Palace. The gate itself must go back to the time
of Fatih, though it was reconstructed in the later sixteenth century
and thoroughly redecorated in a rococo style in the eighteenth.
At the time of his accession and on bayrams, the Sultan sat here on
his gold and emerald throne to receive the homage of his subjects
and officials.
THE THIRD COURT
Just beyond the inner threshold of the Bab-üs Saadet stands the Arz
Odası, or Throne Room. Although in the Third Court, it belongs by