Comments on: The Harem at Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:10:17 +0000

Hi Joy, we were in Istanbul in May, well before the television interview. Besides, I continue to show my backside because I don’t want my face so noticeable or ingrained in people’s memories ( I exist and am real, but I don’t want to be obvious)… I already run into folks in groceries and restaurants and markets and I would like to keep that recognition factor to a minimum, in the sense that this isn’t about me, but the food I eat… I think only 1,500 views of the television video were counted, and maybe 70% of those from abroad… so only a few hundred in Manila have seen it. :) But it will be showing on cable here in a few weeks…

By: Joy

Joy — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:18:31 +0000

Hi Marketman – why do you continue to photograph yourself from the back when your front has already appeared on region-wide TV? I mean, why persist with whole anonymous schtick when you’re no longer anonymous? Just curious – your readers might enjoy seeing your face now and again….

By: skyemermaid

skyemermaid — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:05:12 +0000

i am reading “domestic culture in the middle east” by jennifer scarce right now. a thin book that is supposed to be an exploration of the household interior of the affluent of Turkey, Iran, and Egypt, mostly during the Ottoman empire. Many of the photos you posted above are of the same rooms and objects as in the book, including a close up of the tile on your seventh picture.
hmmm. i need find a way to see it for real like you and family did, and not just through a book…. :)

By: estella

estella — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:25:29 +0000

THANK YOU FOR TAKING YOUR READERS ON YOUR JOURNEY….

By: nonymous

nonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:41:15 +0000

Turkey has restored the place since I was there 13 years ago.
Bus loads of tourist get there everyday and the parking lot looks like bus depot!

By: zena

zena — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:11:17 +0000

Bathroom relation notwithstanding, I find the design of the tiles/mosaic very beautiful. And recessed ceilings just automatically draw my attention. Thanks for the virtual tour!

By: millet

millet — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:39:49 +0000

amazing! thanks for sharing, MM!

By: Tricia

Tricia — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:11:34 +0000

I love this article MM!!! And the thought what if the Sultaness had a harem of men instead hahaha!

By: ajienaissant

ajienaissant — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:58:12 +0000

I asked about those houses covered in tiles when we went to our place in Mindoro. My uncle remarked that the houses were owned by the OFWs working in Italy, and they started the trend.

Sure you don’t have to repaint and its easy to clean but Im not sure if they took into consideration how difficult it would be 2-3 years from now when one of those tiles crack and you have to buy the same pattern.

By: Apicio

Apicio — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:57:56 +0000

Seduction in the seraglio? Isnâ€™t it funny how we associate tile-work with bathrooms in spite of it being one of the pinnacles of Islamic artistic expression. That suggestion is justified though in the case of the old Toronto subway stations because they did look like cavernous pissoires due to the ceramic surfaces. On the other hand, in Portugal and then Brazil who must have borrowed it from the Arabs (odd that it did not take hold as much in Spain), it is the really opulent buildings that were clad with azuleijos and it takes a lot of effort to cast aside the importunate and unfortunate association before beginning to appreciate their artistry. There is this truly lovely example of an eighteenth century church (reputedly the Emperorâ€™s favorite) on a Rio hilltop that is fully dadoed with magnificently intricate blue and white tiles.

Oh and about the much parodied de-fanged harem guards who knew how itâ€™s done having seen it done countless times but supposedly werenâ€™t able to do it themselves, as it turns out, spading does not really render them totally harmless as witness the scandalous castrati of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. All it did was to definitely alter the modulation of their voices somehow and guess who was the last to quit this outrageous practice, the Vatican. Too bad it wonâ€™t be too effective then for them to bring it all back now to carry out on their own priests who prey on the young. Just sayin.