Topkapi Palace

(160 mins) The Ottoman Dynasty extended over three continents, surviving 600 years from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century. 24 of its 36 Sultans ruled the Empire from Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, for a period of 400 years. The royal residence, which has witnessed moments of great joy and sorrow, became a museum after the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923 by Kemal Atatürk. Until it opened its doors to visitors from all over the world, the Topkapi Palace had always been a mysterious, shuttered world. The "Topkapi Palace" series represents the widesranging project of its kind ever to be taken. It was in 1990 that all the doors of the Topkapi Palace were opened to a film crew for the first time. Their lights probed parts of the palace still closed to visitors and, indeed, into palace that had never seen the daylight. Miniatures, engravings and illustrations produced by the domestic and European artists of the Ottoman Period were also used as further documentation and illustration of the fascinating life that existed behind these locked doors.

This disc contains all seven episodes: "General Outlines", "The Inner Palace and its Pavillions", "The Sacred Relics", "The Harem - 1", "The Harem - 2","The Treasury" and "The Collections".

In Turkish and English with English subtitles.