Topkapi Palace
THE PALACE/MUSEUM, THE VIEWS, THE HAREM, THE ARCHAELOGICAL MUSEUM

Topkapi is a very large historical palace, home to many of the sultans of the Ottoman empire for about 400 years. It is situated on the promontory Seraglio Point (Sarayburnu) in the old town/Sultanahmet, overlooking the Bosphous, the Golden Horn, the Sea of Marmara and the Asian side. It is huge in size and consist of several palaces, each carefully decorated. Inside the palaces you can find historically important personal belongings from religiously important persons, including Muhammed's cloak and sword! Unfortunately it wasn't allowed to take pictures of some of the interiors and antique belongings. There are nice views over Istanbul and the water from the palace's terrace. Topkapi is part of an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.

The palace includes 4 courtyards, a small park a and a harem. The hilly Gülhane Park is situated right next to the palace. The surrounding walls are 1400m in length. At its peak, Topkapi was home to about 4000 people, containing mosques, a hospital, bakeries and a mint. Sultan Mehmed II (then in Byzantine Constantinopel) ordered the construction, that begun in 1459. Later on, activity was moved to other palaces, and in 1924 it became a musuem of the imperial era. It contains advanced Ottoman architecture as well as many interesting objects.

 

TOPKAPI:

The Topkapi Palace, with the Basketmaker's Kiosk in the front, seen from the Bosphorus sound.

The Gate of Salutation, the main entrance to the Topkapi complex with its sharp medieval towers. Accessed from a park in front of the palace.

 

The park in front of the palace.

One of the pavilions.

Model of Topkapi

Model of Topkapi

Topkapi seen from the Galata Bridge

The Tower of Justice -the palace's tallest structure, the Imperial Council Hall and the entrance to the Harem.

The Gate of Felicity (Babüssaade)

The Gate of Felicity

Paintings, Gate of Felicity

The Audience Hall.

 

 

The audience hall.

The library seen from the audience hall.

Greenery and large crowds of people around Topkapi's pavilions. Right: The Conqueror's Pavilion.

The Conqueror's Pavilion

Topkapi

Details of paintings

Hagia Eirene, a church just next to the entrance of Topkapi, was a Byzantine church, today a museum. It is the only Byzantine church with its atrium intact.

 

 

THE TERRACE AND ITS VIEWS:
The dome and a seaplane

The Asian side and the Sea of Marmara

The Princes Islands, Sea of Marmara

The terrace

Asian and European side, the Bosphorus

Levent and Besiktas districts

Konyali Lokantasi, Topkapi's restaurant and views of the Asian side

 


Asian side and a seaplane
The seaplane

Üsküdar skyline, Asian side

Princes Islands, popular but relaxed

Residential buildings and masts, Asia

Part of the wall at Topkapi, in front of Topkapi

 

 

Levent skyline, European side. In front is the Besiktas district with Dolmabache Palace and the Bosphorus sound.

 


Skyline Asian side and industrial harbour
Taksim Square and Sisli district

Karaköy and Galata Tower

Karaköy and Galata Tower

Taksim Square, cruise ship and Süzer Plaza

 

 

 

 

Sofa Köskü (left) and the Baghdad Pavilion (right)

 



The Baghdad Pavilion

the Baghdad Pavilion

 

Inside Sofa Köskü

The Baghdad Pavilion

 


The Baghdad Pavilion
The Baghdad Pavilion

The Baghdad Pavilion

 


The Baghdad Pavilion
The Baghdad Pavilion

Pavilion for Breaking fast. Resting place for the Sultan during Ramadan.

 

Pavilion for Breaking fast

Pavilion for Breaking fast

Pavilion for Breaking fast

Pavilion for Breaking fast

Pavilion for Breaking fast

Pavilion for Breaking fast and the skyline of Taksim Square, Besiktas and Sisli

Shadow patterns of Topkapi

Arz Odasi, The Audience Chamber

 

 

 

The Tower of Justice, the tallest structure in Topkapi and the Imperial Council Hall

 

The Imperial Council Hall, the meeting place of the officials and the ministers.

The Imperial Council Hall

Imperial Council Hall

Imperial Council Hall

Imperial Council Hall

 

RESTAURANT:

A tall tree in front of Europe/Asia, on top of the restaurant Konyali Lokantasi

 


The restaurant was actually built around the tree!


The restaurant is lying on a rock. What about all white vans?

 

Interesting pavilions

 



Some of Topkapi's buildings. To the right is the Enderun library.

 

 

THE HAREM:

The harem occupies one of the larger sections of the sultan's apartments in Topkapi Palace, totally it encompassed more then 400 rooms. The Queen Mother ruled the harem. The concubines and the eunuchs were often captured at war, many in Africa.

The entrance to the Harem of the sultans, a separate part of Topkapi that has a special entrance fee.

 


Tower of Justice seen from Harem
Harem

The Hall with Fountainwas renovated after the Harem fire in 1666. It was and entrance hall to the harem, guarded by eunuchs.

 



Arabic text in the Harem

Eunuchs in the harem

Concubine's room

Decorations everywhere in the harem

The harem

 

 

The harem

 

 

The Harem's courtyard.

 



Narrow passage in the Harem

The courtyard

 

 

The Privy Chamber of Sultan Murad III

The Privy Chamber of Sultan Murad III

The Privy Chamber of Sultan Murad III

The Privy Chamber of Sultan Murad III

The Privy Chamber of Sultan Murad III

The courtyard of the Favourites

The Privy Chamber of Sultan Ahmed I

The Privy Chamber of Sultan Ahmed I

View towards modern Istanbul

Beautiful blue and yellow stained-glass windows.

 



Altinyol, The Golden Road

View towards modern Istanbul

Altinyol, The Golden Road

Altinyol, The Golden Road

 

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM:

We didn't visit the Archaeological Museums, but we passed by it on the way to Topkapi. Inside it featueres part of the gate of Ishtar from Babylon (just like the Pergamon Museum in Berlin).

 


Istanbul Archaeological Museums
The hill that leads to Istanbul Archaeological Museums and Topkapi Palace Museum