Sepetçiler Kasrı

The Sepetçiler Kasrı, the Basketmakers' Kiosk, is an Ottoman pavilion standing on the Byzantine sea walls at Sarayburnu, at the mouth where the Golden Horn opens into the Bosphorus. It is the only structure to survive from the shore pavilions of the outer garden of Topkapı Palace; its contemporaries such as the Yalı Köşkü and the İncili Köşk have been lost. Today it is used as the headquarters of the Turkish Green Crescent Society and is not a museum. Nevertheless its whole facade can be seen from the coastal road, from the Galata Bridge and from the ferries between Eminönü and Karaköy. History According to the entry in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the pavilion was built in 1643 on the orders of Sultan İbrahim under the supervision of the chief architect Kasım Ağa. The historian Naima writes that a small kiosk stood here earlier and that this large pavilion was then built in its place. There are two explanations for its name. According to the first, the name comes from the basket makers' guild working in the area; tradition holds that the craftsmen contributed to the construction in gratitude to Sultan İbrahim, who was fond of their craft. According to the second, the name derives from the term sepetçi or sultani used for raised structures at the Edirne Palace. The inscription above the door arch says that the building was renewed in 1739 in the reign of Mahmud I; according to the Green Crescent's page it underwent another repair in the middle of the 19th century. The imperial caiques were kept in the boathouses beneath the pavilion, and the sultans put out to sea from here. The French traveller Grelot writes that in the 17th century he saw five or six boathouses here for caiques and small galleys. Musical gatherings were held in the imperial hall, and the dynasty and the harem watched the fleet setting out on campaign and returning from here. Architecture The pavilion has a plan with three projections on the sea wall; in the middle there is a domed imperial hall, a vestibule and a rectangular room adjoining it. The English Wikipedia describes the building as a four storey stone structure with thick walls and high wooden doors. According to the Green Crescent's page, the red marble was brought from Darıca and Ruse and the tiles from İznik. The TDV entry describes the arched vaults, the marble door frames and the gilded medallions and floral decoration of the dome. The same source relates that the interior was once furnished with mother of pearl inlaid windows, silk curtains and crystal lanterns. On the lower level the arches lined up on top of the wall open to the sea; on the upper level the pointed arched windows and the wide eaved roof form the silhouette of the pavilion together with the dome. The windows of the hall look out over the Galata Bridge, the Galata Tower, Karaköy and the Bosphorus. Later centuries The pavilion was used as a warehouse in the 19th century; in the Republican period it became a military pharmacy depot and was then abandoned. After a restoration by the Directorate General of Foundations in 1980 it became the International Press Centre of the Directorate General of Press and Information. In 1998 it was repaired again by the Eminönü Service Foundation and was run for a time as a restaurant. The project office of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture worked here until June 2011. Since 2011 it has been allocated to the Green Crescent and is used as the society's headquarters. Visiting and getting there Because the pavilion is an institutional building, its interior is not open to tourist visits. The best points from which to see the building from outside are the coastal promenade on Kennedy Caddesi, the ferries between Eminönü and Karaköy, and the side of the Galata Bridge facing Sarayburnu. Seen from the sea, the Tower of Justice of Topkapı Palace and the wooded slope of Sarayburnu appear behind the pavilion, and Sirkeci Station to its right. Walking along the coastal road you can see the arches of the wall, the arrangement of the upper windows and the dome at close range. The Sirkeci and Gülhane stops of the T1 tram and the Marmaray Sirkeci station are a few minutes' walk away. You also reach the pavilion by walking from the Eminönü piers along the shore towards Sarayburnu. Since it is close to the Sarayburnu exit of Gülhane Park and to the Tanpınar Literature Museum Library in the Alay Köşkü, it can be added to the same walk.