19th Century Images of Tekfur Saray from Getty

In the 1980s the French collector Pierre de Gigord traveled to Turkey and collected thousands of Ottoman-era photographs in a variety of media and formats. The resulting Pierre de Gigord Collection is now housed in the Getty Research Institute, which recently digitized over 12,000 of the nineteenth - and early twentieth - century photographs, making them available to study and download for free online. I have assembled a collection of images of Tekfur Sarayi for your enjoyment.  These images were high resolution so I was able to zoom in and get more detail for you.  This was an amazing palace.  It was the home of Constantine and Eirene Palaiologos, an oblong palace was built around 1261 between two walls which descend from the Porta Xylokerkou for a short distance, towards the Golden Horn. Its long sides, facing respectively north and South, are transverse to the walls, while its short western and eastern sides rest, at the level of the second story, upon the summit of the walls. Its roof and upper floors have vanished. The whole surface of the building was decorated with beautiful patterns in brick and stone mosaic. The many windows of the palace are framed in marble and their were graceful balconies on the east and south, which looked out over the superb views the lofty position of the palace commanded.  Unfortunately the remains of the  place were destroyed in an infamous "restoration" to turn it into an Ottoman tile museum and modern exhibition space.  There is a special place in hell for the people responsible that this nightmare.  I have another page on it here.

Bob Atchison