 |
| The courtyard in Topkapi Palace,Istanbul,Turkey. |
The Amber Palace in India and the Topkapi Palace in Turkey have their similarities and their differences. Both palaces have their similar artwork and their very different domes. Both the Amber Palace and the Topkapi Palace are pretty big, but I don’t think that matters. What matters is the artwork and the architecture.
 |
| The cuortyard in the Amber Palace,Jaipur,India. |
The Topkapi Palace and the Amber Palace both have some unique architectural features that define them. Something special to both Amber Palace and the Topkapi Palace are the domes. The Amber Palace has the onion domes and the Topkapi Palace has half sphere domes. The Topkapi Palace has a square courtyard and around the courtyard there is a band of rooms with lots of little domes on them. The Amber Palace has a square courtyard too, but it doesn’t have the domes. I think that the domes on the Topkapi Palace were a nice addition because the domes make it look fancier. Instead of the domes the Amber Palace has a bunch of guard posts for the eunuch guards to keep watch of the Raj’s wives. Unlike the Topkapi Palace the Amber Palace has balconies and rooftop decks. Both the Topkapi Palace and the Amber Palace have a covered hallway that looks out at the courtyard which I think must be really cool in the summer time.
 |
| The Hall of Mirrors Amber Palace,Jaipur,India |
 |
| The fresco paintings in the Amber Aalace is really cool. |
 |
| Sometimes the Turks use two difrents types of stone of their arches. |
Both the Amber Palace and the Topkapi Palace have unique artwork. For example, in the Amber Palace in the Hall of Mirrors where there’s Bulgarian glass designs on the walls and ceiling. The glass was arranged in floral designs. If you looked in to one of the pieces of glass you would see multiple identical little people that look like you. Something unique to the Topkapi Palace is the different types of stone they used on the walls. I think they used red sand stone with rocks inlayed in to it. The rocks looked like they were sprinkled over some soft concrete. Both the structures have fresco paintings and fancy parts of the palace. The fancy spot in the Topkapi Palace is the council house. In the council house, there are paintings on the walls and fancy gold painted arches. The Amber Palace and the Topkapi Palace have some similarities in their types of artwork.
 |
| A really cool dome in the Topkapi Palace,Turkey. |
Both the Topkapi Palace and the Amber Palace have their unique domes and their similar artwork. But what matters is the things that make you gasp and say “WOW!”. The things that impressed me was the domes, the frescos and the gold paint on the arches.
Kayley
Hi Kayley--Sorry I've been so bad about posting comments. I was away in New York being a tourist like you guys, so didn't have a chance to write anything. Like you, I spent a lot of time visiting old sites, looking at art, and walking. But I don't think I ate as much good pastry as you guys have had in Istanbul. But we did have some good dinners and saw some Broadway plays and a musical. Lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteYou've done a super job of comparing the buildings in your post. Very interesting how the two palaces compare architecturally and decoratively. I can't say anything about the Amber Palace because I've never seen it. But I know that I also loved Topkapi for two other reasons. I loved it because it had some great displays of crown jewels and things that were nifty. But even more, I loved it because going through it gave me a chance to imagine what it might have been like when it was a working palace--I thought it was neat to be in the Harem and wondered what life for the women who were the wives might be like. What did they do with their time? And where the soldiers lived--what was life for them really like. And even the Sultan--what did he really do with his days? What did he think about? I think the palace gives one a better frame for imagining what life was like than the old mosques do. And that's what I like.
You're right-- what matters are the things that make you gasp and say "Wow!". But also, a little bit, the things that slow you down and prompt you to wonder--"hmmm. I wonder why they did it that way?" or " Hmmmm, I wonder what it would have been like...??"
Thanks for the all the good thinking and much, much love. bippy