From the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia it is a short walk to Topkapi Palace, our major goal for the day. From the time that Constantinople was conquered to the 19th century it was the center of power of the Ottoman Empire, the place from where the sultans would rule their huge empire. As such it is a huge complex so the next order of business is to find the ticket office. We pass Hagia Irene, which we find out is open for visiting, and the Ottoman Mint before finally reaching the ticket office.
And now it is time to enter the complex via the Gate of Salutation, the entrance to the Second Court. At the same time we also see a hoopoe enjoying the green fields and looking for insects, fun.
And now it is time for the Harem, a large section of the Palace that can be visited and where all the Sultan’s women were hidden.
It is quite a convoluted area to explore as we try to somehow follow the map, enjoy the surroundings, and not to miss any rooms on the tour.
Interestingly there are quite a few mannequins along the way showing different slices of life in the harem, like the serving of tea.
Or the smoking room for eunuchs, the sultan was quite distrustful of other males so only eunuchs were serving in the Harem. Which is understandable really.
We explore also the toilets and some really luxurious baths, likely for the sultan or his favorites.
There are many special details throughout the palace, there were many types of artists working on the Palace to beautify it to the max within the constraints of Muslim architecture.
We continue exploring the many passages and rooms, they are quite impressive and we really enjoy our visit to this magnificent palace.
The details continue to be quite impressive as we move from room to room and enjoy this special palace.
The most famous room in the Harem is the Imperial Hall, it is richly decorated and the place where the Sultan would hold court in this section of the palace.
It is by far the most decorated room and we walk all around it for some time exploring all the nooks and crannies before moving on.
There are a few balconies with some great views of Istanbul and especially the Galata Tower and we spend some time just enjoying them before returning back inside.
As we exit the Harem we continue exploring Topkapi and there are quite a few pavillions to explore. Some are nicely furnished and have special filligrained details. In one we even find the Sultan’s Throne, or one of them at least, still it is quite impressive.
And on we go exploring there are many places to see throughout the complex and we visit them all before finally deciding to return to the entrance,
As we reach the edge of the complex we have a great view over the Bosphorus which is also a very common photo spot, everyone wants to take their photo from the Europe side with the Asian side in the background.
Before leaving the complex we have one more stop planned, Hagia Irene. We passed it on the way in but given that our ticket allows us free entry while shouldn’t we enter it? It is also important historically as it is the oldest known church structure in the city and one of the only Byzantine churches in Istanbul that was never converted into a mosque as it was used as an arsenal for storing weapons until the 19th century. Now it is a concert hall and museum and it has been partly restored to look like a church again.
We explore the former church for some time and feel like Indiana Jones when searching through an old search and looking for the catacombs. But then we get hungry so it is time to leave to find something to eat and then we have one more museum to visit today.
