Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
52 days in the Hippodrome; both are lavishly illustrated. Among
the later works the single figures of men and women by Levni are
bewitching for their elegance and wit.
The west side of the Court is occupied by the following buildings:
the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle, the Hall of the Privy Chamber, the
Mosque of the Ağas, and one of the two main entrances to the Harem.
The first and last of these we shall visit presently; meantime a few
words will suffice for the two middle ones. The Has Oda Koğuşu, or
Hall of the Privy Chamber, was the highest of the vocational divisions
of the Palace School, limited to 40 pages in immediate attendance
upon the Sultan, including the highest of the officials in the Inner
Palace. Here is displayed a part of the collection of manuscripts, not
miniatures this time but admirable calligraphy, of all periods and all
schools. Beyond the Has Oda, the building that juts out at an angle
is Ağalar Camii, the principal mosque of the Palace School. Though
dating in origin from the time of Fatih, it has been much remodelled
and now houses the Library of the Saray.
We now return to the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle, or Hırka-i Saadet
Dairesi, where are preserved the relics of the Prophet Muhammed.
These relics, of which the Prophet's Mantle is the most sacred, were
brought from Egypt by Selim I after his conquest of that country
in 1517, when he assumed the title of Caliph. For centuries they
were guarded here religiously and displayed on state occasions only
to the Sultan, his family and his immediate entourage; in 1962 the
present exhibit was arranged and opened to the public. The Pavilion
itself consists of four domed rooms forming a square, with a fifth
domed room opening of to the left. In foundation and plan at least,
it goes back to Fatih's time; at that time and until the nineteenth
century it formed part of the Has Oda, or selamlık. Murat III partly
reconstructed the rooms and embellished them with tiles, and
Mahmut II added some not very happy touches.
One enters into a room with a pretty fountain under the dome,
which opens by a huge arch into the second room. Here are displayed
the bow of the Prophet Muhammed and the swords of the first
four Caliphs, Abu Bekr, Umar, Othman and 'Ali; farther on is one
of the doors of the great mosque at Mecca. In the room to the left
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