Topkapı Palace’s Cats: From the Ottoman Empire to the Present Day

__ tag_0 __Topkapı Palace was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years. The council was established, the sultans lived, the edicts were issued. But there were other inhabitants in the corridors of the palace who walked alongside the sultans at least as often as they did: cats. This pawed story from the Palace to the present day is the silent backbone of Turkish cat culture. Here at 10 stops.

1Cat = clean animal in Islamic culture.

__ tag_0__ The love of cats in the Ottoman Empire has its roots in the religion of Islam. Prophet Muhammad’s special love for cats and the rumor that cats should not be disturbed even when praying are deeply ingrained in folk culture. The stories about the Prophet’s cat “Muezza” are abundant in Ottoman manuscripts. The palace was part of this religious-cultural framework; expulsion of cats never came to the fore.

2They were silent guards of palace kitchens.

__ tag_0 __Topkapı Palace had huge kitchens that prepared meals for thousands of people every day. Warehouses close to these kitchens were stores of grain, dried fruit, sugar, honey. So the dream house of mice. In the more than 400-year history of the palace, cats were the guardians of this warehouse. The written record is scarce, but soup masters are rumored to have thrown meat bones at cats in the kitchen corridors — the “silent deal” lasted for years.

3Sultans also loved cats — the example of Yavuz Sultan Selim.

__ tag_0 __ Yavuz Sultan Selim (1512-1520) is the figure who is widely rumored to love cats among the Ottoman sultans. One day, while his cat is sleeping in Yavuz’s robe skirt, it is told that instead of wearing the robe, he cuts off his skirt and does not disturb the cat. This story is not a verifiable historical record, but it is one of the classic anecdotes representing cat love in Ottoman folk culture.

4Cats were also kept as pets in the harem.

__ tag_0 __ In the Topkapı Palace Harem, there were pets in the daily lives of women. Cats were a particular favourite — they were both considered to be lawful to touch, and they did not occupy space, but took care of themselves. In some travelogue records (Venetian, German ambassadors), it is even mentioned that the women in the harem wore jeweled collars to the cats. The cat was part of luxury and elegance.

5Special babysitters have been hired for Sultan cats.

__ tag_0__ Although it was not official in the palace organization, the duty of “caring for the sultan’s cats” was the responsibility of some servants. Food preparation, cleaning, intervention in case of illness — it was all routine. It is rumored that the palace cat has a separate kitchen share and eats the best part of the meat. Being a court cat meant a more comfortable life than some Ottoman city dwellers.

6The Angora was the Ottoman export.

__ tag_0 __ Long-haired, white cats (“Angora cats”) from the Ankara region during the Ottoman period were used as luxury gifts in European palaces. It has been recorded by historians that King Louis XV of France and Marie Antoinette were Angora cats. This trade was also known in Topkapı; some diplomatic gifts were carried with cats. The Turkish cat was the trend of the European aristocracy.

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7Cats remained after the palace closed.

__ tag_0 __ When Topkapı Palace opened to the public as a museum in 1924, the sultan and his family were gone, but the cats remained. Cats have been living in the courtyards, corridors and gardens of the Topkapı museum for almost a century. The museum administration is not officially the owner of these cats, but in fact they are an “integral part” of the space, with cats ranking high among the most photographed subjects by visitors.

8Spread across Gulhane Park, they were tourism icons.

__ tag_0 __ Gülhane Park, which is the outer garden of Topkapı, has also become the area where palace cats spread. Today, hundreds of cats live in this region and are regularly fed and checked by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. “Palace cats” are an expected stop on the Istanbul route of tourists; with the Topkapı ticket, both the museum and the residents with paws can be seen at once.

9In 2015, a cat became world famous: Gli.

__ tag_0 __ The cat named “Gli”, who is the annual visitor of Hagia Sophia, close to Topkapı, was a favorite of the international media between 2015-2020. Even Obama caressed Gli during his visit to Turkey — the photo became news to the whole world. Topkapı’s own icons have a similar temperament: calm, humane, relevant to the visitor. The palace cat tradition is still alive in these cats.

10Cat culture is part of Ottoman heritage.

__ tag_0 __ It is difficult to walk 10 meters without seeing a cat in Istanbul today, especially on the historical peninsula. This intensity is not by chance; it is the natural result of five centuries of cultural accumulation. The Ottoman city was a cat-friendly city, and the Republic of Turkey inherited this culture. Topkapı cats; a living cultural memory even after the collapse of the empire.

__ tag_0__Looking at it,

__ tag_0 __Topkapı Palace cats are witnesses who have silently watched the rise, peak, and transformation of an empire. They slept at the foot of the Ottoman sultan, walked around the harem on a jeweled collar, went to European palaces as gifts, and today they are wagging their tails to the visitor in the museum courtyards. If you visit Topkapı, notice them at the entrance; you will encounter the continuation of a story that is not written in the history books but is in every stone. If you are thinking of buying a cat for your home, maybe you can continue the tradition of an Angora cat — Palace.