Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [107]
On an appointed day the entire harem, numbering nearly twelve hundred, was assembled without veils in a large hall, while hundreds of Caucasian mountaineers and other Christian people from outposts of the Turkish Empire filed through, seeking to recognize in these elegant ladies their daughters and sisters. Not all of the women were claimed or wanted to be. Some had been spoken for by rich pashas who were anxious for beautiful and delicately bred wives; some nobody came for; some quailed at the prospect of a peasant’s life and chose to spend the rest of their days in reduced but genteel circumstances there in the old Seraglio, which thus ended as an old ladies’ home.
Sultan’s Supper at Topkapı
It isn’t very often that the Topkapı powers that be allow ordinary subjects into the palace after hours. But the clients of Sea Song Tours are not interested in doing ordinary things in Istanbul, and Sea Song is no ordinary agency. In fact, it is in every way extraordinary. A ten-course Ottoman dinner for two at Topkapı (as well as a cocktail party for a special celebration) can be arranged by Karen Fedorko and her dedicated staff at Sea Song, for a price: about $6,000 for dinner for two, with a portion of the money donated to the palace. “Our goal is to create a totally unique experience for our clients,” says Karen, owner of Sea Song. “We want to provide a level of service that meets all expectations, so we follow through and pay attention to every single detail. That’s how we’ve built our reputation.” That reputation has come mostly by word of mouth and through membership in the prestigious Virtuoso network, an invitation-only organization of more than six thousand travel specialists with more than three hundred agencies in twenty-two countries.
Sea Song works mostly with travel agents and private groups, and lately the agency is working more with high-profile celebrity guests. Almost no request is considered unusual—private yalı and museum visits, trips outside of Istanbul, etc.—and all the staff wear many hats (including that of resident historian: one American client enlisted Sea Song’s help in tracing a family member’s past from an old photograph, which they did by examining the Ottoman medals the subject is wearing in the photo). Sea Song maintains two offices in Turkey, one in the Fındıklı neighborhood of Istanbul and the other in the pretty coastal town of Kuşadası.
As for many other visitors, the Rüstem Paşa Mosque is my favorite in Istanbul. I love that it’s a little hard to find, tucked away as it is on a street just off the Egyptian Spice Market, and I absolutely love the Iznik-tiled interior—I really can’t get enough of those tiles! The tiles cover virtually every inch of the mosque’s surface, from floor to cupola, and they are dazzling. The mosque is just one of Mimar Sinan’s grand constructions, built for Rüstem Pasha, the grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent. Rüstem Pasha was known to be difficult, mean-spirited, and tightfisted, but he was found to be a suitable choice as husband of Süleyman’s daughter Mihrimah. They married in 1538, the same year in which Sinan was named royal chief architect. In Sinan Diaryz, Ann Pierpont notes, “We are aware that Rüstem collected thousands of tiles, some said as another investment; but without this greed the visitor would not have such an exciting experience, for the Master was usually modest in his use of faience and desired it as a decorative highlight more often than as a focal point, reserving it for the kıbla wall surrounding the mihrab. Entering the mosque one is overwhelmed with splendor; there is no doubt that this is a fitting memorial for the miser.” In the bookstore at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, I found a lovely hardcover book, Tiles of Rüstem Paşa Mosque, which has