The Topkapi Palace is a sprawling complex that was the royal residence of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years from the mid 1400’s to the mid 1800’s. Here you will see the opulent, tile-covered residence of the Sultans, the chambers of the harem, fascinating holy relics of Islam, beautiful gardens, and meticulously manicured grounds – that is if you can see any of it through the bajillions of tourists swarming the place.
I know, I know, we too are tourists, so I don’t have much room to complain. And I wouldn’t, except that it just seems as though so many of all those other tourists are just so darn rude. For example, at the very back of the Topkapi compound can be found a small mosque, and when it was time for the call to prayer the day we visited, an imam emerged at the top of the small minaret and began the call in person (most calls to prayer are done over public address systems). During the calls to prayer, we’ve tried to be respectful and reverent, but at the Topkapi Palace that day, you’d have thought it was no more than a spectacle to point at, laugh about, and snap pictures of.
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This wasn’t a limited incident, by the way. We’ve witnessed some incredibly disrespectful, insensitive, and downright rude behavior all during our trip. The day before we visited the Topkapi Palace, we went to the Hagia Sofia; I was at the window paying for our audio guide equipment, and a woman literally stepped in front of me to stick her head in the window. And just yesterday at the cathedral in Gloucester, England (as I write this, we’re back in the UK) I watched as a young woman mounted the cathedral’s altar and actually leaned over the altar table with her arms outstretched so her friend could take a photo. I was about to say something when she caught sight of me and scurried away.
The Topkapi Palace is one of Istanbul’s top attractions, so naturally it’s going to attract hordes of people mindlessly following their tour guide. It’s disheartening to see even a small percentage–which winds up being a large number–completely oblivious to the culture and history of the places they wander through, as if the capital of the Ottoman Empire, or (worse yet) the still-active mosque on the site, are nothing more than an opportunity for a peace-sign bearing photo or a place to check off their bucket list.
So how do we recommend you deal with these sorts of people when traveling? Well, start by trying to avoid them. Ask your hotel or your restaurant servers or fellow travelers what days are best to avoid crowds. Ask what time of day is best. If you don’t have any options, go anyway and try to offset the jerks and the twits. Shush people who talk loudly in churches and mosques, admonish them for treating other’s sacred and cultural places like dirt (even if they’re not sacred to you), and try to enjoy the people watching: there’s no telling what you’ll see.
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