Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace is a majestic building which served as the main residence of the Ottoman emperors for nearly 400 years. Today it serves as one of the most important museums of Istanbul.

The Palace Museum today contains some of the most rare items of the Muslim world. Though the complex has several hundred rooms, halls and chambers, only the most significant of them are open to the public, displaying the grandeur of the Ottoman emperors. This huge complex is divided into several sections and places of interest. Mainly, these are: the First Courtyard, which you enter when you cross the Imperial Gate of the palace; the Second Courtyard, which has things like the Imperial Carriages, the Palace Kitchens and their collections, the Imperial Stables and Treasury, and the Gate of Felicity; through the Gate of Felicity you enter the Third Courtyard, which has the Miniature and Portrait room containing portraits of the Sultan, the Audience Chamber where the Sultan would meet and receive gifts from his subjects, and the Enderun Library, which was the library of Ahmed III, among other chambers; the Harem is perhaps the most important of these, it was the main area of residence of the Sultan and has 6 floors of which only one is accessible, and contains a ton of important chambers, courtyards and many rooms; and then there is the fourth and final courtyard, which has many pleasure pavilions and also a terrace restaurant. This huge complex is a great way to gain some perspective of the extravagant lives that the Ottoman rulers lived.