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The Tiled Pavilion (Çinili
Kösk) is the oldest Turkish
secular building in Istanbul.
Sultan
Mehmet the Conqueror built
a residence here in 1457, shortly
after he took the
city from the Byzantines (1453),
but the present building dates
from 1472.
An oriental-style
pavilion lavishly decorated with
the finest turquoise and dark
blue tiles of the time, it was conceived
as a private
residence for the sultan,
who liked to get away from the
confines of nearby Topkapi
Palace and watch his sons play cirit (the
Central Asian horseback game
akin to polo) with the palace
staff. The sultan
could sit in
the front portico of the pavilion
and watch the games.
In the 19th century the sultan built
his Archeological
Museum (Eser-i
Atika Müzesi) next
to the Çinili
Kösk. Now the pavilion
is officially the Museum of
Turkish Faïence, a part
of the Istanbul
Archeological Museums.
It can be visited along
with
the other
museum
buildings.
More...
Inside, the pavilion has a cruciform
plan, with rooms or eyvans (open niches)
at the points of the cross and a small
dome
over
the
center
of the cross.
Exhibits of Turkish
tiles from the best periods fill the
display cases and are mounted on the
walls. Whether you have an interest
in tiles (as I do) or not, you must
see this graceful building.
Right beside the Çinili
Kösk a shady garden
cafe is
set up amidst a forest of broken statues
and other hardy marble monuments, the
perfect place to enjoy a cool drink
on a hot summer day before continuing
your explorations of the Archeological
Museums or the other sights of Sultanahmet.
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