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Where Does an Emperor Stop for Tea? He can't just dodge into a normal Turkish tea house and ask for a fresh glass açik. He's gotta have someplace worthy of his dignity! Voilà! The Ihlamur Kasri, or Kiosk of the Linden Tree, set in a pretty wooded valley inland from Istanbul's Besiktas district. Actually, besides his palaces of Topkapi, Dolmabahçe, Beylerbeyi, Çiragan and Yildiz (most of these on the Bosphorus) the sultan had several of these little kasrs ("pavilions," or mini-palaces) dotted around the city just in case he should be in need of a glass of tea or cup of bracing Turkish coffee. Besides the Ihlamur Kasri, there's the Küçüksu Kasri farther up the Bosphorus and the Aynalikavak Kasri in the Hasköy district on the Golden Horn. This photo of the Ihlamur Kasri is the one on my computer's display, that I look at all day every day. I've even had tea in the kasr. Did I feel like a sultan? No. Did it feel good? Yes. Yes! |
