Kitchens and Porcelain Collection

Nearly 1.200 personnel were working in the palace kitchens which were first constructed in the times of Mehmet II, then restored by famous Turkish architect 'Sinari in the times of Selim II in the 16th century. When we consider the number of personnel working in all parts of the palace as 5.000, nearly 25 % of this number were serving for kitchen. In the kitchen complex, there were three sections for the sultan, other personnel and the desserts; dormitories of the personnel, mosque, bath and pantry were also here. Each of the ten rooms forming the kitchen building were used to cook for various persons and groups like the queen mother, the concubines, the crown prince and the black eunuchs.

The domes on the main kitchen building were constructed in the 15th century and are one of the palace symbols. The chimneys above the domes were constructed by Sinan after the big fire in 1574. Everyday 20.000 meals were prepared in the kitchens. That is, other than the three meals for 5.000 people living in the palace, meals for 5.000 people were distributed each day for caravansaries

and soup kitchens.

Today, a large part of the kitchen complex hosts the third largest porcelain collection of the world. After the collections of China, Beijing and Germany, Meissen comes the collection of Topkapi Palace Museum which composes of 12.000 pieces. However, only one fourth of this collection, nearly 3-000 works can be displayed.

When we go through the kitchen, porcelains are exhibited chronologically, starting from the times of Tang Dynasty (7th - 9th century), Seladon Dynasty (10th -12th century) and Ming Dynasty (14th -17th century) respectively from right to left. At the end of the collection, we observe Japanese porcelains which appeared from 17th century on after those famous Chinese workshops were closed and European porcelains produced in Sevr, Vincent, .Meissen, Berlin and Warsaw in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 'helvahane' located just beside the sitting rooms where porcelain collections are displayed, huge cauldrons and other kitchen utensils are exhibited. Objects made of glass which were produced in Istanbul Glass Workshops (manufactured only for the palace) and in Venice are displayed at the far corner of the corridor which is besides the helvahane and this corner was once used for making soap and oil. To the opposite side of the corridor you may see the silver souvenirs which were brought to the palace or made by masters in the palace.

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