Sultans of Swing

Back in Istanbul, and took a couple days off of the sightseeing to relax back into the city life and finish up my book! There is a new agenda to the sites I am seeing around the city. I have moved away from the history of Ataturk, to the Ottoman sultans and the empire they built. They had land, they had power, they had money... but what made these men in funny hats tick? So far, I have only seen the two big palaces Topkapi and Dolmabahce from the outside as admission is quite high, I will save those for another time.
Instead, there is a hidden palace named Yildiz built in 1880, by Sultan Abdulhamid II, one of the last Ottoman sultans in the time of Ottoman demise, when he refused to be living on the river for fear of an attack. Although, the Ottoman Empire was in decline at the time of the construction, one wouldn't know that by walking through the extravagant palace. Each room had silk furniture, dozens of yards of fabric hanging around the high windows, and arranged in a different way in every room. Paintings of nature scenes covered every wall and celling. There were ornate chandeliers that hung in every room that had been shipped from France. The visitor gets the impression no price was too high for the sultan. In the grand ballroom as I would call it (though I don't think that was what the Ottomans referred to it as) a hand woven carpet laid on the ground, not just any rug, but the largest continuous rug ever made. There were no photographs allowed inside the palace (it wouldn't have matter because my camera was out of batteries away) so, all of these photos were taken from the web.
The palace was set back in a park with the same name, that at one point was probably quite beautiful, but now looks quite run down and is filled with wild dogs.
Next up, is the Ihlmamur Pavilion.
This small, but intricate building was built for an afternoon resting place for Sultan Abdulmecid, after hunting in the nearby hills. The hills now are covered with hundreds of apartment complexes and one must try hard to imagine the what the scene would have been like back in 1850.
Here is Sultan Abdulmecid in his best attire, looking like a fine hunter, indeed! As I learn more about these sultans I will write to inform the masses!!