Opposite the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, facing the various columns and obelisks in the area of the Hippodrome, is the Palace of Ibrahim Pasha, a Greek convert, finished in 1524. According to Freely, he was appointed Grand Vizier to Suleyman the Magnificent, and thus his wealth to build such a palace. But Suleyman eventually murdered him as a threat.
While I was inside, the power failed about 3 times - having got used to this already (and the 40 watt lightbulbs in the Side Pension - this is common everywhere), I used my trusty little torch.
It only made the splendours better!! Highlights included absolutely exquisite examples of early Islamic and Ottoman epigraphy, which other people just walked past, certainly comparable to the marble calligraphy in places like the Bezadiye mosque.
The rugs!!! what rugs!! The most beautiful rugs that I have ever seen, some of which were at least 50' long, draped down the walls. A number were at least 700 years old (prayer rugs), still in beautiful conditions. The ethnographic exhibition also provides some explanation about how the dyes (including that fantastic red dye) were made. There were reproductions of paintings by such artists as Holbein, who used rugs as props in the 16th century - at a time when trade with the west was increasing, and obviously, the rugs were luxury items. Some of the rugs on display closely matched the patterns in the paintings.
Tiles. I must have an eye for picking 'the best of'. In a little gallery, to the right at the end of ..........., I saw beautiful remakes of ancient tiles. Once struck me in particular, it being a depiction of the Kabaa in Mecca and other buildings around, all labelled in Arabic. It was $US500!! In the museum, the original was one of the first items that my trusty torch flashed upon!! The images here are very similar to the tile that I spotted.