Topkapi Palace – The Treasury

As mentioned earlier, The Treasury is the most popular part of the Topkapi Palace Museum for most visitors.  It holds the most amazing and richest collection of its kind in the world.  Anywhere else in the Western world, the exhibits would have been held in grander rooms and under heavier security.  Because of its popularity, the rooms are usually jam-packed with visitors and it’s difficult to have time to read the description of the items. All the pieces exhibited in the four rooms are authentic originals.

There are four rooms, containing masterpieces from different centuries and exquisite creations from the Far East, India and Europe. In each room there is an imperial throne from a different era. In the first room, ceremonial costumes, weapons, water pipes, Turkish coffee cups and other wares, all inlaid with gold and precious stones are the more important items.

My favourite room is in the second hall and is also known as the Emerald Room.  Here you’ll see dazzling displays of aigrettes and pendants decorated with emeralds and other jewels. There’s a bowl of uncut emeralds, some weighing quite a bit, and the famous Topkapi Dagger (the symbol of the museum) decorated with three large emeralds are also on display here. No matter how many times you see the exhibits, you’ll still be amazed at the exquisiteness of the pieces.  Standing in front of the bowl of emeralds, I always dream that maybe just one piece could be give to me … no such luck!

Speaking of luck, one of the most famous diamonds in the world, the 86-carat Spoon Maker’s (or Pigot) Diamond, is also found here. This 86-carat diamond was found in a rubbish dump in Egrikapi during the reign of Mohammed IV.  Believe it, Believe it Not – it was bought by a peddlar for 3 spoons! I would have given my whole set of cutlery to get that rock. 

The third room contains enameled objects, medals and decorations of the State that were presented to the sultans by foreign monarchs.  There is also the twin solid gold candelabras, each weighing 48 kilograms.  The Golden Throne is the most famous throne in the palace and was used by the sultans during coronations and religious holidays.

The balcony connecting the third and the fourth rooms offers a breathtaking view of the entrance to the Bosphorus and the Asian coast. In the fourth room, a magnificent throne of Indian-Persian origin is on display. There are also many other objects encrusted with precious stones of different sizes to captivate visitors.

Unfortunately, photography is not permitted in the Treasury rooms and we’re not able to share those precious moments with you.

Helen