Standing prominent above Old Istanbul and its waterfront, Topkapi Palace is an immense¹ structure with a long and regal history - from its role as the centre of the Ottoman Empire, to its current operation as a museum housing sacred Muslim relics.

Initially constructed in the mid-15th century and expanded in subsequent centuries by different rulers, the palace is centred on four principal courtyards which are divided by high walls intended to ensure the privacy of those inside. The courtyards are surrounded by hundreds of buildings, beyond which are gardens and wooded areas and walls separating it from the bustling city.

At the height of their power, the Ottoman Sultans based all their official, political and ceremonial activities at the Palace. They housed up to 4,000 people in the complex, which was a self-contained city with all necessary facilities such as mosques, schools, a hospital and even a mint. The palace is reached via a processional avenue and the huge Imperial Gate adjacent to the Hagia Sofia mosque.

The first courtyard is the southernmost and largest of the four, and served mainly as parkland for the general population of the Palace and as a functional area for facilities like the mint. It also houses the Hagia Irene Orthodox Church. The fountain here is believed to have been used by executioners to clean their hands and weapons after an execution.

The parade route through this area leads directly to the Salutation Gate, entrance to the second courtyard. Visitors had to dismount their horses here, as only Sultans were permitted to proceed while riding.

The second courtyard was where Sultans would receive most guests and hold public audiences. It contained more lavish parkland for senior members of the court, and was surrounded by important buildings such as the Imperial Council, a harem, dormitories for servants, and stables where royal carriages are still present.

The ten domed kitchen buildings are clearly visible with their chimneys standing proud above spaces where up to a thousand people would work to create up to 6,000 meals a day in specialised facilities such as the confectionery and beverage kitchens.

The Tower of Justice is the high point of the complex - intended to serve as a reminder for all who could see it of the power of the Sultan, who would use it as a place to oversee his city. Nearby is the Treasury which housed most public administrative functions of the city.

The Gate of Felicity leads to the lush third courtyard which was the private quarters of the Sultan - a place where nobody could enter without his express permission. Private audiences (such as with visiting ambassadors) took place in the throne room just inside the gate. Personal guards and staff of the Sultans lived in this area. The Conquerors Pavilion and Imperial Treasury mostly housed art, money and other valued possessions. The Mosque of the Agas is the largest mosque in the Palace.

The Privy Chamber was constructed as offices, but now houses several items considered to be the most sacred Muslim relics - a cloak and weapons which belonged to the Prophet Muhammed, along with one of his teeth and a hair from his beard. These items form a destination of pilgrimage for many people.

The third courtyard also leads to the harem which had more than 400 rooms to house the sultan’s families in addition to their wives and concubines.

The fourth courtyard was strictly a private refuge for Sultans and their families, along with principal staff such as the Chief Physician. It includes sections specifically for rituals such as evening meals during Ramadan, and circumcision.

By the late 17th century, the Sultans had mostly relocated to more modern palaces elsewhere in the city. Sections of the Topkapi were lost to redevelopment, particularly along the waterfront where a railway was built in the 19th century. When the Ottoman Empire ended early in the 20th century, the Turkish government ordered its conversion into a museum.

While only a modest selection of the hundreds of rooms are open to the public, the architecture is splendid and there is a rich collection of Ottoman treasures, manuscripts and other objects in addition to the Muslim relics mentioned above.

A full in-depth description of Topkapi Palace can be found at Wikipedia. It can be helpful to compare the satellite images to the maps of the Palace, and the Harem. Finally, virtual tours at 360tr (tour one, tour two) give an excellent sense of the grandeur of the Palace.

Thanks to Ray hollis and Sench.

Welcome to the second annual GSS Desert Week! In time-honoured tradition, we’ll mostly be posting about deserts. For about a week!

While Canada is generally thought of as a land of ice and snow, it is home to one arid desert - the Osoyoos or Nk’Mip Desert of British Columbia.¹

Surrounding the community of Osoyoos, and the lake of the same name, this area of the Okanagan is home to desert plants and animals not found anywhere else in the country. It is one of the hottest and driest parts of Canada year-round, and some believe that Osoyoos Lake is the warmest in the world (though there are several competing claims for that title.)

The desert is characterised by barren hillsides and plains, bordered by lush green fields and orchards which survive with heavy irrigation.

For a small desert, it is surprisingly well endowed with visitor centres. The Osoyoos Desert Society has its Centre to the north-west of town, while the Nk’Mip Indian Band’s Desert Cultural Centre is “an architectural marvel sensitively constructed into a hillside” on the other side of the lake. At both, you can learn about the local flora and fauna through static displays and a network of trails

The Nk’Mip Band have also managed to carve a golf course out of the desert, with an associated resort and spa, while nearby is an estate of vineyards producing some of the wines for which the Okanagan is renowned.

Some distance out of town, the desert even has a salt lake, called - not surprisingly - Spotted Lake. The spots appear when water evaporates, leaving rich mineral deposits behind.

Panoramio has a good selection of pictures of Canada’s Desert.

One of the most picturesque villages found in the Peak District National Park, Eyam is historically significant for the actions the villagers took to isolate themselves in the mid 1600s to prevent the spread of the plague despite the toll it took on their population.

Fleas in a shipment of cloth brought the plague to the village in 1665 with the first death happening within a week of its arrival and the disease spreading quickly to neighbouring homes, now known as the Plague Cottages.

The villagers, led by their Church ministers, enacted measures to try to restrict the spread of the disease, such as families having to bury their own dead and limiting contact with outsiders. Church services were held outdoors in Cucklett Delph, a nearby valley.

The plague killed more than 260 of the 350 people who lived in the village, with researchers unsure why some survived. Elizabeth Hancock lost her husband and six children in 8 days but did not become ill herself. The family is buried some distance from the village in a plot known as the Riley graves.

The village effectively quarantined itself, refusing any contact with people from nearby communities. Villagers developed arrangements to receive and pay for goods without meeting people from elsewhere face-to-face. Difficult to see on Google Maps, but a landmark for hikers, the Boundary Stone can be found on the footpath to Stoney Middleton. The stone has a number of holes carved in the top - villagers from Eyam would fill these with vinegar in an attempt to disinfect the coins they would leave as payment for food and medicine delivered there.

A similar arrangement took place to the north of the village at Reverend Mompesson’s well.

There is a small museum depicting the sombre history, and many landmarks have information signs for those walking around the village. Online information can be found at Wikipedia and the Eyam Plague Village site.

Nestled amongst the highlands of Northern Ethiopia, the town of Lalibela is a destination for Orthodox Christian pilgrims drawn to its famed monolithic Churches.

Dated to the 12th and 13th centuries, but still actively used for worship, the Churches are each carved from a single piece of rock - either down into the ground, or into a hillside. The most well-known of the Churches is Bete Giyorgis¹, or the Church of St. George, with its distinctive cross shape approximately 25m square, surrounded by deep trench walls.

The last of the Churches to be built, and the best preserved, Bete Giyorgis was constructed on the orders of King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela after seeing it in a vision. The town (formerly known as Roha) later took his name to honour his legacy.

A number of structures described below have tin roofs - added, one assumes, rather later than the 13th century. While this obscures the view on Google’s images, they are obviously intended to protect the historic structures from the elements. Panoramio has an excellent selection of images of most of the Churches to give you a true sense of their beauty.

Just to the north-east of Bete Giyorgis can be found a cluster of 6 Churches known as the Northern Group. Bete Medhane Alem (the largest tin roof - the structure shown clearly here in an excellent historic photo) is considered the largest monolithic Church in the world, and houses the Lalibela Cross, one of Ethiopia’s most sacred religious relics.

The middle of the 3 roofs houses Bete Maryam, thought to be the oldest of the Churches in the area, while Bete Golgotha - at the western edge of this Group - may contain the tomb of King Lalibela.

The Eastern Group consists of 4 Churches, notably Bete Amanuel, thought to be the Royal Chapel, and Bete Abba Libanos which is carved from a rock face on a hillside (respectively, the largest and bottom-most of the roofs in the image below).

The Rock Churches are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For further reading, Wikipedia has good information, and Sacred Destinations has more background accompanied by superb pictures.

The spectacular Leptis Magna is an exceptionally well-preserved Roman city on the coast of Libya which has a history dating back over 3,000 years. Today the archaeological site is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

With a history dating back to 1100 BC, the city gained status as a leading part of the Roman Empire in AD 193 when Lucius Septimius Severus became the first African-born Emperor of Rome.

The baths at Leptis Magna

Although there are loads of ruins here, most of the prominent remains date from the first and second centuries, including the incredible theatre.

The theatre at Leptis Magna (ground-level photo)

Severus spent lavishly on new buildings for his home town as it developed into a major trading port, making sure he had an extensive market and a truly magnificent forum.

The market and forum at Leptis Magna

One of the major projects attempted during Severus’s reign was the redevelopment of the harbour, which was known for heavy silting. However, the changes just made the problem worse. Many of the quayside buildings are intact but rather annoyingly a strip of low-resolution imagery obscures the harbour.

However the good imagery returns further east, just in time for us to be able to see Leptis Magna’s wonderful amphitheatre - the location of amazing public spectacles, and the most prized symbol of Roman citizenship that a town could have.

The amphitheatre at Leptis Magna (ground-level photo)

The city eventually fell into decline in the fourth century when trade moved elsewhere, but thanks to Emperor Severus and his ebullient spending, there remains an absolute wealth of history for people to explore in his once splendid home town.

Wikipedia of course has lots of info, but I recommend that you visit the Temehu site for excellent pictures and background, with a more detailed history to be found at Livius.org. Also see an earlier post on Google Sightseeing about the city of Sabratha.