Transition to Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Ancient but Still Growing

Istanbul straddles the border between Europe and Asia.

No other city in the world does so, and that unique geographic position has made it a major hub for trade between those distinctly different continents.

So, it's only natural that our excursion kicked off with a bus ride across a bridge to the Asian side, accompanied by introductory narration by our knowledgeable guide, who fortunately was not trying to divide his attention by also driving our bus through the snarling bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Bosporus Strait Dividing Europe From Asia

Our bus driver did an excellent job throughout the day, always keeping his cool despite the fact that traffic stretched our 9 hour tour into 10 1/2 hours by the time we returned to Azamara Journey after dark.

It's nice to say we've been to the Asian side of Istanbul, but a round trip ferry ride across the Bosporus Strait with a short time to walk around would have been ideal.

Two Mosques Beyond the Grassy Park.

We had an overnight stay in Istanbul, so anyone with sufficient motivation could have
returned to Asia the next morning.

Colonists from Megara, Greece, arrived in 667 BC, founding their colony which became known as Byzantium in honor of their leader, King Byzas.

As you may surmise, that name is where German historian Hieronymus Wolf came up with the name Byzantine Empire, which is also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire.

Praying Area for Men Only in Blue Mosque

At the time history unfolded, however, the citizens throughout the sprawling empire considered themselves simply Romans, with Byzantium shorthand to refer to the eastern region, like calling the northeastern region of the U.S. by the shorthand New England.

During the first few centuries of Roman rule, the city of Byzantium kept its original name, but for a brief time in the third century it became Angusta Antonina, named after an otherwise historically insignificant Roman royal.

Madonna and Jesus flanked by Emperors Justinian I and
and Constantine I at Hagia Sofia

The far more significant Roman Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity legal and then the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, declared the city to be the eastern capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330.
People began calling it Alma Roma (Eastern Rome), or the more complex New, Second Rome. Eventually, it became known as Constantinople, in honor of the Emperor who rebuilt the key city on a monumental scale similar to Rome itself.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

Beginning in the tenth century, Armenians and Muslims began to refer to Constantinople as Istanbul, which essentially means "in the city," much in the way Knickerbockers might refer to New York as "the City," but it didn't become Istanbul officially until the new Republic of Turkey made it so in 1928.

After the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453, they referred to it as Istanbul in some records but the official name was Kostantiniyye, the Arabic translation for "place of Constantine,"

The rise of the Ottoman Empire from inception in 1299 to their conquest of Constantinople coincided with the decline of the Byzantine Empire. The Christian Crusades had met with some degree of success in retrieving the Holy Lands in the 1100s and 1200s, but the Muslims struck back, capturing Jerusalem in 1287.

Wes Outside Topkapi Palace Entrance

In thinking about the Crusades, it may be easy to think the Holy Lands were the sole focus of a united Europe, but then as now, there were all kinds of side intrigues and all out wars dividing the interests of world leaders.

In addition to Crusading, English King Edward I became known as the Hammer of the Scots for his fierce control of Scotland, and he also battled France. Edward I was a staunch supporter of the Knights Templar, with whom he fought side by side in the Holy Lands.

Flowers and Artifact by Wall Outside Hagia Sofia

King Philip IV of France had to fund his war with England using loans.

Jewish bankers helped finance Philip the Fair (a rather ironic nickname in retrospect), not knowing he would rid himself of that debt by arresting all the Jews in 1306, confiscating all of their property, and expelling them from his country, unpaid. Of course, this type of treatment of Jews has been a recurring theme throughout history.

Philip had also borrowed heavily from the Knights Templar, who, rich from their Crusading activities, had re-settled as power brokers in Europe in the 13th Century.

Blue Mosque Ceiling Section

However, King Philip could not take action against the Knights Templar as long as their powerful royal friend King Edward I lived.

That didn't stop Philip from plotting a scheme with his Counselor William de Nogaret to replace the Pope with one more amenable to the will of Philip, planning to have that Pope find the Knights Templar guilty of trumped-up crimes against the Church, so that Philip could cancel his debts and seize their wealth.

To those ends, Philip and De Nogaret first tried to get Pope Boniface VIII removed from power, which resulted in threatened ex-communication. Changing plans, De Nogaret kidnapped the Pope and imprisoned him. Soon, Boniface died from the harsh treatment.

He was replaced by Benedict XI, who also apparently wouldn't play ball with Philip and was poisoned by De Nogaret. Pope Clement V proved to be a keeper.

The final piece of the puzzle for King Phillip IV was the death of King Edward I in 1307.

Meanwhile, in response to the Ottoman Empire amalgamating Muslim kingdoms under their rule, Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay planned a Return of the Jedi (great link here) scenario.

De Molay headed to see Pope Clement V to receive Church sanction for another Crusade, not realizing Clem was in the pocket of Philip the Fair. The Grand Master obviously lacked Yoda-like powers of perception, because en route he accepted a royal invitation to meet with King Philip in Paris, hoping to get the French monarch on board with his plan and make it a slam dunk for Papal approval.

On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip had the Knights Templar arrested and subsequently tortured into confessions. The demise of the Knights Templar made the Ottoman Empire's rise easier.

Once the Ottomans took control of Constantinople in 1453, they owned the most valuable trade routes between East and West, and their wealth and influence grew, making the Ottoman Empire into the most powerful nation in the world.

Julie at Topkapi Palace Entrance

We would see the incredible wealth of their royal treasury for ourselves at Topkapi Palace, which occupies an area about a third the size of the wealthy country of Monaco.

Had Philip the Fair not hatched his plan against the Knights Templar, and they had successfully united Europe for another Crusade to the Holy Lands, then perhaps the Roman Empire would not have lost Constantinople.

Then, that young Italian Christopher Columbus might not have shown up before Queen Isabella I of Spain, hat in hand, asking for funding to find an alternative trade route to Asia sailing west.

And the conquest of America might have been delayed a few centuries.

Were all of the Knights Templar killed by Philip the Fair?

Knights Templar Charge at the Battle of Bannockburn

No.  Many later recanted their confessions made under torture.  Other than in France and some Italian city-states, most European governments didn't accept the unjust rulings, and Knights Templar were gladly absorbed into their armies.

In Scotland, it is said that Knights Templar with white capes and red crosses emblazoned across their chests came to the aid of Robert the Bruce in 1314 just as defeat seemed imminent at the Battle of Bannockburn, charging over the hill to reverse the tide and win Scotland's independence.

Pinta, Santa Maria and Niña Crossing the Atlantic Ocean

In fact, if you went to school in the same era as I did when Columbus was still considered a great explorer and hero, you may remember paintings of the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria with red crosses on their sails.  Those Crusader crosses are not royal symbols of Spain.

In 1492, Queen Isabella and her hubby King Ferdinand not only launched exploratory ships to the west but also completed the Reconquista, reclaiming Spain from the Muslim Moors, who had invaded almost 800 years earlier and whose architectural influence is still seen in great Spanish cities and throughout the New World.

Arches at Topkapi Palace

Perhaps you've also noted a white cross on red background on Swiss Army Knives or the Swiss flag.  The Swiss Confederation was established August 1, 1291, or about the time Knights Templar returned to Europe.  Switzerland, of course, remains one of the great banking centers of the world.  Coincidence?

European powers changed focus for their adventurism from the birthplace of civilization to the New World and future glories.

They found great wealth there, sufficient to fund power which eventually reclaimed the Holy Lands from the Ottomans after the Muslims sided with Germany in World War I.  As I think about it, their former colonies, the United States of America, rode over the ridge just in time to turn the tide in favor of Great Britain's allies, like heroic knights.

From the ashes of the Ottoman Empire rose the Republic of Turkey, and Istanbul remains a vibrant hub where East meets West.

The Holy Lands

Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel, site where
the archangel Gabriel appeared to inform Mary that she would
be blessed to give birth to the Son of God, Jesus.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a country more steeped in religion than Israel, where three of the world's great religions began.

As we learned in Sunday School, Moses led his people on an Exodus out of slavery in Egypt, parting the Red Sea en route to the Promised Land.  Moses never saw the Land of Israel, because he could not follow directions.

No, he wasn't ignoring his wife and refusing to stop at a gas station to ask for help.

Old Testament Stories Depicted on
Door at Basilica of the Annunciation

Moses failed to follow God's commands exactly and took credit himself for God's miracle of bringing forth drinking water from a rock.

Interesting that water, the rights for which was the basis for the creation of cities and subsequent civilizations, can often be found at the heart of religions.

Anyway, Moses wandered in the desert for forty years, and in fact, everyone in his generation died before seeing their destination that is now called Israel. 

God gave the Jews many amazing military victories in their prime, and those stories for me as a child were as vivid as The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter for today's youth, thanks to engaging lessons from my great Sunday School teachers, Mr. Ball and Dave Willett, augmented by Charlton Heston movies.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine (Israel),
site of the manger where Jesus was born to Mary.

Unfortunately, the Israelites didn't stay faithful to God, and subsequently the Promised Land was overtaken by other kingdoms like the Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans, with Jews strewn throughout the world, often initially enslaved, then cyclically they earned freedom, built wealth, suffered persecution for being successful and eventually would be stripped of their wealth and livelihoods, at which point the process would start from scratch again.

Jesus's Childhood Home in Nazareth is thought to be a grotto.

As unlikely as it seems, they continued to practice their religion, which served as a reason to keep their language alive in foreign lands.

Over 2500 years later, Israel was re-established as a Jewish homeland in the aftermath of World War II.

Millions of Jews had been used as laboratory rats and slaughtered in the Holocaust, and some enlightened world leaders determined the best chance for ending the cycle would be to return the Israelites to the land promised to them by God.

Bustling Port of Haifa, Israel

Jews had already begun re-settling in their homeland from the late 1800's with the Zionist movement.  Prior to that, the land in what is now Israel had devolved over the centuries into mostly desolate wasteland under the neglectful care of nomadic wanderers, as you can easily read about in Mark Twain's reflections on the region during the 19th century, The Innocents Abroad.

Japan's Take On Madonna and
Jesus, Part of International Series
of Paintings in Nazareth at the
Church of the Annunciation.

In the interim between Israelites being scattered throughout the earth and the resurrection of Israel, the Jew Jesus of Nazareth rose to become the most famous person to have ever walked the earth.  His followers spread the word far and wide, establishing another great religion, Christianity.

Recently, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, visited the United States to great fanfare.

The Catholic Church, of course, is headquartered in the Vatican, an independent nation located within Rome.

Catholicism was founded by a disciple of Jesus, the fisherman Simon whom Jesus said he would call Petros (Peter), which means "rock."

Some have speculated the name to be a small bit of black humor based on Jesus foreseeing Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed along the way to Jesus's crucifixion, but most believe it was because Jesus knew Peter's heart was always true.

Statue of Simon Peter in his hometown
of Capharnaum by the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus said he would build his church on this Petros, and it is said that Peter's bones are buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the incredible Catholic Church at the Vatican.

However, because these lands of Israel are where Jesus grew up, preached, died for our sins and resurrected, it has been considered the Holy Land by Christians for centuries.

Against all odds, Christianity spread to be the dominant religion throughout Europe thanks to Emperor Constantine, a Christian himself who issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD that de-criminalized Christianity in the Roman Empire.

In 325 AD, Constantine's First Council of Nicaea brought together diverse Christian sects (and actually some pagan rituals) into one orthodoxy.  About that same time, Constantine prohibited construction of new pagan temples, and by the end of his reign he was destroying them.

Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee,
where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.

During our trip, we would visit many remarkable sites said to be the exact places where major events in the life of our Savior unfolded, but most were designated as such in 326 to 328 AD, when Constantine's 80 year-old mother Helena came to the Holy Lands to locate and consecrate them.

It is a matter of faith as to whether you believe she nailed them all exactly based on oral traditions passed down from the time shortly after Jesus returned from death (at which point His followers by all reports had been chased out of town or killed) or if she was duped by con artists seeking royal coin, but it is nonetheless moving to be in the right general areas.

Palace of the Grand Masters of the Knights of  St. John
in Rhodes,  Greece

You may recall that about 800 years later, Europeans became outraged by Muslim persecution of Christians in Jerusalem and began the Crusades to re-claim the Holy Lands.

That, of course, brings up the third great religion of the region, Islam, which accepts most tenets of the Old Testament and the New Testament, except the resurrection of Jesus and the belief that He was the fulfillment of the prophecies.  

Gateway to Old Jerusalem

Muslims believe Mohammed followed Jesus as the next great messenger from God, and in something of a repeat of history, Mohammed led his chosen people to nationhood in the Middle East.

In 570 AD, Mohammed was born in Mecca, which is the holiest city for Muslims.  Islam is linked to Israel because the foundations of his religion are in those earlier religions.  Plus, the Muslim version of manifest destiny calls for them to control all of the Holy Lands, including Israel.

In addition, Mohammed had a special connection to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, because he was taken there one night by an angelic beast named Buraq en route to ascending to heaven to meet the ancient prophets of the Jews and Christians plus even God Himself.

"I was brought by al-Burg who is an animal white and long, larger than a donkey but smaller than a mule, who would place his hoof at a distance equal to the range of vision. I mounted it and came to the Temple (Bait-ul Maqdis in Jerusalem), then tethered it to the ring used by the prophets."

Jerusalem, Israel

The Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount in Old Jerusalem marks the spot of the ascension to heaven.

The mosque's location creates a major problem for Jews, because it blocks them from re-building the Jewish Temple on the site of the first one built by King Solomon in the tenth century BC.

Mural at Elvis Gas Station Near Jerusalem selling Elvis
postcard that read, "I saw the King in Jerusalem."

Because Israel is a free nation that respects property rights and allows people to worship in any way they want, there is nothing the Jews can do about it.

Let me stress here that there are many things about Islam to be admired, including the fact that followers pray five times each day.

River Jordan Baptismal Area Tiles

Muslims are required to make themselves clean before prayer, which encouraged good hygiene before anyone knew what germs were, similar to "religious" rules from the Old Testament, like the admonishment to never eat pork, which was literally an unclean meat that could make diners quite ill back in those ancient times 

A religion that encourages you to think about God throughout your day and to follow hygienic rules can't be bad, right?

Certainly, some great heroes from my youth like Lew Alcindor (who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Cat Stevens still seem to be nice guys following their conversions to Islam, but unfortunately there are also some leaders who preach hatred.

Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives,
where Judas betrayed Jesus.

As peace loving Muslims, Kareem and Cat probably optimistically support the new nuclear agreement with Iran which is being touted to America as a peace agreement by President Obama's administration.

We are a secular country that respects all religions, but founded on Judeo-Christian principles.  Nonetheless, the USA is called "the Great Satan" by many Muslim leaders.

In presenting the same nuclear agreement to his people, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the crowds in cheers of "Death to America" and promised Israel would not exist in 25 years.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre on
the site where Jesus was crucified.

Tiny Israel has been threatened with annihilation by its neighbors since its re-birth but somehow has managed to hold its own and even win, much like the story of David and Goliath.

I personally think Naziism rather than Islam is to blame for the hatred of the USA and Israel spread by Khamenei and his ilk, but some followers take it on faith when their Imam or Supreme Leader tells them they will be blessed and rewarded in heaven if they strap a bomb on their chests or fly planes into buildings to kill civilians, "because it is the will of Allah."

Yes, these three great religions often find themselves at war with each other, whether both sides actually seek to destroy the other or not.

Getting back to history, as the decades unfolded following the birth of Islam, the Christian Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire, which had ruled the Holy Lands for centuries, gradually receded.

St. George statue at
Church of St. Catherine, built
on the site of a Crusader Church
which had been built on the site
of a 4th Century Monastery
in Bethlehem.

In the late 11th Century, Catholic Pope Urban II called for a Crusade to recapture Jerusalem.

Over the last 50 years or so, movies, novels and even textbooks have re-framed the Crusades as a reckless encroachment by Christians on Muslims.

The power of Hollywood in particular to influence popular opinion should never be underestimated, and while I won't deny there being multiple sides to every story, I think perhaps Crusaders have been overly vilified of late.

To put it in perspective, consider the middle three letters in JerUSAlem happen to be USA.

If the USA was overrun by people taking away our Constitutional freedoms, would we not want to re-claim our country?

As you probably know, Muslims conquered most of the region, and eventually the great Ottoman Empire arose as one of the richest and most powerful kingdoms ever.

Hagia Sophia (means "Holy Wisdom") was the
greatest church in the Byzantine Empire
from 537 AD to 1453. In 1453 it was
converted into a mosque.  In 1935, Turkey
re-opened this Istanbul highlight as a museum.

The name of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire's former capital, Constantinople (named after the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine), became Istanbul.

Constantinople's most spectacular church, Hagia Sophia, was converted to serve as a mosque.

As we all know, even within these great religions, there are differences.

Protestants and Catholics fought many wars over whose version of Christian religion was closer to what God would want, but not lately.

Other newer spin-offs of Christianity that feature latter-day prophets of a sort include Mormonism, Christian Science, and Religious Science, but they generally haven't killed each other as a matter of principle.

The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem

While Ultra-orthodox and Orthodox Jews may not fully approve of Liberal Jews like our guides, who work or even ride in buses on the Sabbath, they aren't trying to kill them.

With the new millennium, we have grown accustomed to seeing hatred within Islam between Shia, Sunni and Kurds, as played out in Iraq, continuing as it has for centuries.

Baha'i World Center and Gardens in Haifa, Israel

A spin-off from Sunni Islam is Baha'i, which is now headquartered in Haifa, Israel.

Baha'i expands on the basics of Islam, including its foundations in Judaism and Christianity, while adding the lessons of  Buddha, Krishna and essentially anyone else who has some positive words of enlightenment.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem Where Jesus
Was Buried and Resurrected.

In the 1800s, their new prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, proclaimed there is only one God, worshiped by different religions in their own rituals, and that there is a spiritual unity of all of mankind.

So, of course, he was forced into exile.  Early Baha'is were slaughtered, and present day followers continue to be persecuted in Muslim counties, including present-day Iran where the religion started.

I don't present this as an attempt to imply any status of absolute truth to Baha'i or to convert anyone.

Rather, I think it is a good modern day example of the challenges Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and their followers overcame spreading a gospel of love in an age long before the existence of mass communication that encircles the world in an instant.

Wes in Big Comfy Couch on Azamara Journey

Yes, this is a long-winded opening to the Holy Lands we explored on Azamara Journey, but if you think about it, compared to all the chapters of history that have unfolded during that time, this wouldn't even qualify as a Cliffs Notes version.

By the way, you can click on any of the photos to enlarge them to make them easier to see, and the hotlinks take you to pages I selected to share for anyone who wants to know more on that topic.

Istanbul's Topkapi Palace

The Mandatory Last Stop of Our Tour

Surrounding Istanbul's many mosques and other historic sites is a modern, secular city.

Most men in Turkey dress in a way that would make them indistinguishable from the average resident of New York or Los Angeles.

Unlike the town of Dikili, where it seemed like women must either refrain or are not allowed to go out in public, in Istanbul as much as 40% of the population out-and-about is female, depending on the part of the city.

In tourist areas like Topkapi Palace on a hot, sunny day, most of the women also wear American-style clothes, and those wearing Hijabs generally did not wear Khimars (veils) over their faces.

Tourist Area Near the Blue Mosque

Away from the tourist areas, more women wear traditional Muslim garments, but almost none were dressed in the extreme head to toe Burka or Abaya, or showed only their eye's behind a Niqab.

Still, you would not confuse the dress code for that found in Redondo Beach on a sunny day.

Traditionally Dressed Sitters at Topkapi Palace

When entering mosques, you are not allowed to expose your knees or shoulders, so despite being a hot day, most everyone wears long pants or skirts.

Like many other women, Julie brought a scarf to slip on in mosques, but it's not necessary to swelter under wraps all day as in some Muslim countries.

View From Above Our Restaurant

Beyond wearing long pants on a hot day, I never felt out of place, except a brief time on our way to lunch when I took too long trying to jockey for a photo of the Bosporus Strait.

I didn't feel unsafe among the crowd, but I worried I might never find my group again after everyone continued beyond the range of my ear piece to hear my guide.

Like Quinn trailing someone from a distance on the TV show Homeland, I had to make a quick choice: head further down the street and around the corner, or down a flight of steps to where hundreds of others were already eating lunch on a terrace.

Down the stairs I bounded.

Quickly scanning the outdoor seating, I saw no one I recognized, so I headed inside the restaurant.  A crackling sound in my ear alerted me I was heading in the right direction.

Julie and Our Table Mates At Lunch

The lobby area was jammed, so I cut down a server's hallway and came into a banquet area just as Julie walked in and the guide's voice clarified in my ear.

We sat at our window table with a view of the Bosporus Strat and enjoyed a delicious, multi-course lunch of regional foods.

First Course Included Great Hummus and Other Med Treats

Okay, it wasn't exactly edge-of-your-seat drama, but the thought of meeting Julie back on the ship that night and explaining how I could be so careless as to get lost in a city of 14 million people where I don't speak the language had my heart racing.

The city, however, doesn't feel menacing.  It is very clean, which in turn makes it feel safe.

Topkapi Palace Building With Identifying Sign

You don't see graffiti or slovenly dressed individuals.  Everyone seems quite polite.

It would be great if Istanbul would be used as a role model for other Muslim nations.

It should be noted that unlike in some countries, women officially have equal rights in Turkey, including the rights to be educated and to drive cars.

Julie at Entrance to Topkapi Palace

The modern, secular perspective. however, is put in historical context by the huge building that once housed the Ottoman Sultan's Harem, where the Sultan and his sons visited dozens of concubines with no other men allowed except black eunuch slaves who were guards, spoke for a different era under the Ottoman Empire.

Topkapi Palace Wall

Our tour did not include admission to the Harem, but our guide piqued our interest with a few words.

To be selected to join the Harem was deemed a great privilege.  The women of the Harem lived in relative splendor and received an education to read, write, play instruments, dance, sing and sexually please the Sultan.

Hagia Irene, a Byzantine church enclosed within Topkapi
Palace Walls, was used as armory, storehouse and then
museum by Ottomans.  Now, it's a classical music venue
Over Byzantine history, the church was re-built after
mulitple disasters  and also expanded from the original
basilica dedicated by Constantine I in the 4th Century.

Their job was to please the Sultan in any way possible, and their education was geared toward that objective, but during the 19th century, educational opportunities for other women began to open.

To be selected as a concubine was an honored position.  If she played all of her cards perfectly, gaining the highest favor of the current Sultan, she might rise to become the future Valide Sultan, or mother of the next Sultan, and be in charge of the Harem.  This was the highest position attainable for a woman in the Ottoman Empire.

While definitely Muslim at its heart, the Ottoman Empire in many ways carried on traditions of the Byzantine Empire.

Ornate Ceilings are Topkapi norm.

Constantine-conqueror Sultan Mehmed II and his successors didn't needlessly destroy buildings which could be re-purposed, and they took the same approach to conquered people.

Early on, Ottomans accepted soldiers from conquered kingdoms into their own military and rewarded top performers with a great deal of responsibility as officers.

Eventually, some Christians and Jews earned positions in government administration, and as long as they were essentially monotheistic (notwithstanding the Roman Catholic tradition of the holy trilogy which was a point of contention in the Eastern Orthodox Church), the Muslims were for the most part tolerant.

Polytheists, like Arabs committed to regional religions that existed prior to Mohammed's revelation, were not acceptable to the Ottoman new world order, and they were chased away from civilized regions into the barren desert wasteland we now call oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

Prior to the rise of Islam, Arab tribes were in constant conflict with each other.

Raiding and taking plunder from other tribes was a way of life.

Mohammed declared that this practice of plundering fellow Muslims to be a sin, and cutting off this method of redistribution of wealth, the Muslims warmly embraced the honored alternative of raiding and plundering infidels of foreign lands.

The territory captured was to the glory of Allah, so the military found motivation in heavenly as well as earthly reward, as did the Sultan.

By the time the Ottoman Empire began in 1299, the Byzantines and Persians (latter day Iran) had been significantly weakened by centuries battling each other.  Intrigues in Europe derailed a new Crusade, and the Ottoman Empire grew rapidly.

The Ottomans eventually controlled most of Eastern Europe, closing in on the border of present day Austria.

As you may recall, the Muslim Moors had previously conquered Spain in 711, sweeping through the Iberian Peninsula.  They challenged France with designs deeper into Europe, but Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) stopped their advance at the Battle of Tours in 737.

As a side note, Charles Martel was the first Carolingian Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (western Europe) and the grandfather of the enlightened Emperor Charlemagne.

The Spanish Reconquista did not drive the Moors from Europe until 1492, the same year Spain financed the first exploratory voyage of Christopher Columbus.  That was 39 years after Ottomans captured the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), Constantinople, which is now called Istanbul, on May 29, 1453.

Sultan Mehmed II set up court in the Great Palace of Constantinople, but he found it in ill repair, so he sought a new location, settling on the site of the Byzantine Acropolis.  He laid out the palace behind new high walls in a pattern that would be preserved for the ages.

The powerful Ottoman Empire became incredibly wealthy through control of trade and conquest of new territories.

The overused adjective palatial doesn't adequately describe Topkapi Palace, with its opulent buildings among sprawling grounds.  The total area is about 50% larger than Vatican City.

Perhaps even more impressive than the palace itself are the treasures housed within it, including decorative and deadly weapons, intricate clocks and a Pink Panther-enticing trove of shimmering jewels, which were received over centuries from kingdoms and other wealthy traders in tribute to the Sultans whose lands and waters they traversed.

One brooch holds the 86 carat Spoonmaker's Diamond, which is surrounded by 49 smaller but sizeable diamonds.

Photography is not allowed inside the museums, but check out the video below for some indication of what we saw.

It's truly astounding to see all of these symbols of wealth on display.

I couldn't help wondering how these collections managed to remain preserved through the fall of the Ottoman Empire, occupation by the British and subsequent founding of the Republic of Turkey, when financial demands could undoubtedly have been used as justification to sell most if not all of it.

Hagia Irene in Foreground with Blue Mosque in Distance

In the final analysis, Topkapi Palace, like other castles in Europe, makes a wonderful tourist attraction.  It continues to yield rewards to the Turkish government treasury while preserving precious artistry and gems of the past for future generations.