Tombs

One of the sights that really surprised me in my exploration of the area were the tombs of the various Ottoman sultans that were scattered throughout the city and open to visitors. While I had heard about the palaces and monumental mosques I was unaware that the tombs were so widespread and easily accessible and I had fun touring as many as I could. The first thing that I learned after visiting a couple on the side of the Aya Sofya is that in the interior they are pretty much all the same. The coverings of the sarcophagi are almost all green textiles with a turban at its head. The sultan would almost always be the biggest and was surrounded by various family members that were buried with him. In addition to the various sultans, some tombs were also kept important Valide Sultans (Mother of the Sultan) who wielded a good deal of power from inside the harem in various periods of the empire. The interior of the tombs also featured the beautiful tile and woodworking that was on display everywhere else in the city's monuments and it was fun to see so many different types of decorative arts as I wandered from one to the next.