Topkapi Palace
UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic Areas Of Istanbul, 1985); Ottoman Imperial Palace, Museum Since 1924 · Istanbul, Istanbul
Topkapi was not a palace in the European sense of one great building but a walled city of pavilions, kitchens, courtyards and gardens that ran the Ottoman empire for nearly four centuries from the ridge above the meeting of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. Visitors move through four courtyards that get progressively more private, ending at the Baghdad Kiosk and the terrace where sultans took the view. Two sections carry the crowds and both need planning: the Harem, a separate ticket and a maze of tiled apartments where the sultan's family lived under the eye of the chief eunuch, and the Chamber of the Sacred Relics, where objects associated with the Prophet Muhammad are shown with a Qur'an recited aloud and photography forbidden. The Treasury holds the Spoonmaker's Diamond and the emerald-set Topkapi Dagger, and the palace kitchens hold one of the largest collections of Chinese porcelain outside Asia.
Cankurtaran Mahallesi, Topkapi Sarayi, Fatih, Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkiye
Open most days with a weekly closing day that has traditionally been Tuesday - confirm, it has changed. Longer hours in summer, and last admission well before closing. The Harem is ticketed separately and closes earlier than the main courtyards. The Sacred Relics chamber may close around prayer times.