Tag Archives: Grand Seraglio Istanbul

collecting is only humanist

The great books of Greece and Rome were written down between 800 B.C. and A.D. 450. They were first printed and disseminated only after A.D. 1450. Once printed, they were likely to survive only because they were so good or … Continue reading

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suspicious minds

Good to walk around with a mirror just to see who may be sneaking up on you. Hard to find a Sultan who wasn’t suspicious and didn’t keep a food tester on the payroll. And lets not talk about the … Continue reading

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royal etiquette: eye of the Sultan

His Majesty’s seamy service.Throne Room Without and Within. Modern Turkish history contains much to be proud of, but it was preceded by a long and unbroken seamy past of plots hatched and destinies decided within the walls of the Grand … Continue reading

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seraglio hide and seek

Don’t look back, it might be catching up to you. Being a Sultan was not an occupation, some call it a calling, others a divine right of kings. In any event, it was not for the faint of heart. Lots … Continue reading

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wild and wooly: oh effendi!

the Turks. The young turks,the old turks, they were all wild; from the quiet tranquility of the garden to the live action slicing and dicing of the human body, there was rarely a dull moment in the Ottoman Turkish empire. … Continue reading

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sultans of swing: grim tunes

The beheaded and the beholden. The Grand Seraglio. Within its walls the Turkish Sultans sought the answer to a perplexing and ancient question: Can absolute power bring absolute bliss? It brought a lot of absolutes to be sure, and the … Continue reading

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absolute bliss and the grand seraglio

Within its walls, the Turkish sultans sought the answer to an ancient question: Can absolute power bring absolute bliss? …. The Grand Seraglio in Instanbul. Until 1852 this was the Sultans’ residence, a palace known in the West as the … Continue reading

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