Topkapı Palace

Open everyday except Tuesday, from 09.00 to 17:00 (box office is closed at 16:00)
Entrance fee is 20.00 TL and an additional 15.00 TL for the guided Harem tour.

Topkapi in Turkish means "Cannon Gate". It eventually got this name from the cannons that guarded its most important water gates.

When Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquered Istanbul in 1453 he chose to build his palace on the site of the old Byzantine palace ruins that had been looted and destroyed by the Latins so Topkapi Palace lays on Sarayburnu (one of the seven hills of Istanbul), where the Bosphorus , Golden Horn and the Marmara Sea join. It's a place not only offering the most magnificent view of Istanbul but also a position where it could guard the entire city.

With its buildings erected in marble, its interior marvelously furnished, its massive walls, its slender towers, its gardens with pools, its fountains and centuries old plane and cypress trees, it is a mix of magnificent harmony. The Palace offers a sight that you will never be able to forget.This palace was used as the Ottoman residence for almost 400 years until the reign of Abdülmecid, and was therefore subjected to many changes as it passed from Sultan to Sultan.

In these luxurious surroundings the Sultans and their court lived and governed. A magnificent wooded garden fills the first court. On the right of the second court, shaded by cypress and plane trees, stand the palace kitchens, now galleries exhibiting the imperial collection of crystal, silver and Chinese porcelain. To the left is, the Harem the secluded quarters of the wives, concubines and children of the sultan, tending to charm visitors with the echoes of the intrigue of centuries. The Sultans' wives and concubines were absolutely very beautiful women who would commit intrique, even murder, for power. However the Harem was a place governed by tradition, ceremony and obedience. Today the third court holds the Hall of Audience, the Library of Ahmet III, an exhibition of imperial costumes worn by the sultans and their families, the famous jewels of the treasury and a priceless collection of miniatures from medieval manuscript. In the center of this innermost sanctuary, the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle (Hirka-i Saadet) preserves objects belonging to Prophet Mohammed brought to Istanbul when the Ottomans assumed the caliphate of Islam in 1517.

In the fourth courtyard of the palace, there are different mansions built by various Sultans, including the Bagdat, Revan, Sofa and Mecidiye residences. The Mecidiye Residence functions as "Konyalı" restaurant today.

After a thorough restoration during the Republican era, Topkapi Palace was converted into a museum. The towered outer entrance of the palace is called "Bab-i Hümayun" (Door of Sultan) getting its name from the time of Sultan Mehmet, the Conquerer for he was using this entrance. Then you reach the oldest church of the Byzantine period, St. Irene (Aya Irini). After the conquest it was used as the armory of the Janissaries (Ottoman soldiers).

Click for the Topkapı Palace website.

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