It is incredible . . .
from two points of view -- both as a believer and as an architect
This is one of Sultan Suleiman's swords
It is one of those that bears his name.
It reflects the refined workmanship of Suleiman's era.
It's plain, but with very high quality, elaborate workmanship.
On it there is a name, sometimes there are poems or prayers,
but generally the Sultan's own swords carry his title.
Sultan Suleiman Shah bin Salim . . . and so on . . .
The end of this inscription has worn away, but you get a sense of the full title from the start.
Generally, precious stones came from outside the empire.
We still call this one Ruby or Yakut.
Rubies usually came from places like India or Burma.
Firuze came from the city of Firuz in Iran, that's why we call it Firuze in Turkish
But in the West it's known as turquoise meaning "Turkish blue".
We are standing on the oldest and the only surviving original galley.
This gallay dates from the 16th century.
It is impossible for any Mediterranean historian not to feel excited
when faced with such an example.
There are benches, three-person benches
In each row there are 24 benches. In total there are spaces for 144 oarsmen.
Barbarossa is among the whole of 16th Century Europe's . . .
most charismatic figures.
Barbarossa is a hero who has been immortalized . . .
in novels, poems, wall hangings, songs -- every type of literature.
Under Barbarossa's command,
The battle of Lepanto is often seen as a breaking point
As soon as Cyprus was captured by the Ottomans, the great powers -- the Papacy, Spain, and Venice . . .
created an alliance and were determined to bring an end to this problem once and for all.
This ends with a thrashing for the Ottomans.
upon the Western world.
You can't understand Europe without the Ottomans,
and you can't understand the Ottomans without Europe.
This doesn't only apply to the period of Suleiman the Magnificent,
it was like this from the start to the end of the Empire.
European identity was created by being both in alliance with and opposition to the Turks.
So we are talking about two entities which created each other.
Suleiman's second period saw the creation of the first modern government.
in Suleiman's government there was a regular army . . .
a powerful tax system and a strong bureaucracy which maintained it.
This was established in Suleiman's second period,
Modern European governments, by taking this as an example . . .
began an era of building modern nation governments
The tiles in Topkapi Palace are all very good examples of Ottoman era tiles
At the moment we are re-painting the repaired parts of the original tiles
with exactly matching colors.
People from all corners of the city would come on a Friday and gather to pray . . .
and when they would leave . . .
they would see friends and acquaintences, probably people they hadn't seen in a long time.
So there would be lovely conversation and togetherness, just like in the past
with Greek culture in the Agora and Roman culture in the Forum.
This is its modern continuation in the 15th and 16th century.
In architecture, buildings are judged not according to their height or size,
but by how much light they let in.
Sinan's buildings are truly the lightest of all the domed structures.
For example, in churches people can feel insignificant
Here you can see a suspended ceiling of light.
This reminds us of the human dimension and you do not feel overwhelmed.
The Ottomans had a concept of "nizam-i-alem" --"world order".
They attached great importance to ordiliness.
They organized themselves in a terrifically ordered way and they think practically.
Therefore, when they do a job they get results
and they take great care to to make sure their results are lasting