Topkapı Palace increases number of works

ISTANBUL

As the month of Ramadan will begin soon, approximately 600 works of art are on display for visitors in the Chamber of Holy Relics at Topkapı Palace.

The artworks in the Chamber of Holy Relics can be visited every day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. except Tuesday.

There are many very important historical artifacts in this chamber of the National Palaces in Fatih. Among them are the Hırka-ı Saadet belonging to Prophet Muhammad, his sword, the case where his broken tooth from the Battle of Uhud is being kept, his letters, his beard and his footprint.

Swords belonging to the four caliphs and the companions, keys to the Kaaba, the Hacerü'l Esved case and mementos from the Harem-i Şerif are among the other pieces exhibited in this section.

Speaking about the restoration works carried out in the Chamber of Holy Relics and the artifacts on display there, the National Palaces Department President Yasin Yıldız said the following:

“The Chamber of Holy Relics is a place that is the heart of Topkapı Palace for local and foreign visitors. As you all know, the works here have been carefully preserved here for more than 500 years; sometimes only seen by a certain number of the palace people, but in recent years, especially after the Topkapı Palace became a museum, they have been able to meet local and foreign visitors.”

Stating that both the location of these works and their content are very important, Yıldız said, “The Chamber of Holy Relics, which had been closed for several years, was introduced to the public with its new face last year at the end of the month of Ramadan. We can say that the restoration that has been carried out here in the last year or so and the new display arrangement of the collection have attracted great attention from visitors. When it comes to the Holy Relics, the most important one is the Hırka-I Şerif, the cardigan of prophet Muhammed. Again, many relics such as the Quran dedicated to prophet Osman, the banner of prophet Muhammed, his personal weapons, his beard – Sakal-ı Şerif - and his tooth, which we call Dendan-ı Şerif are preserved here. This collection is essentially the collection that arrived here after Yavuz Sultan Selim's conquest of Egypt and then Hejaz. However, a very important historical hero should also be underlined here. Fahrettin Pasha, the defender of Medina, was also transporting the souvenir artifacts made for the holy lands of the Ottoman Palace to Istanbul with some of the last trains, in the days when the Hejaz Railway was more active, before Medina fell. This is an extremely important dimension of this collection for us.”

Yıldız said that the previous display arrangement of this section was outdated due to the conditions over the years.

“Now a very special display system has been created here. Because there are works from several thousands of years ago. There are some that are very different from each other in terms of their material. Of course, there are works that have both material and spiritual value for the Islamic world, especially the Hırka-ı Şerif. A very special system was designed to display them, and the establishment of this system lasted two years,” he said, and added, “The showcase arrangement made here against all kinds of climatic conditions and all kinds of natural disasters is an important museum success. Also, the number of works exhibited here was increased from 60 to 300 last year. This is very important because with this new display arrangement, we present every work in our collection to our visitors,” said Yıldız.