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<\/a><\/p>\nThe sky was a little overcast but the temperature was warm and humid. \u00a0We walked up the hill and took the back way to the palace. \u00a0The entrance looks like a European medieval castle. \u00a0The palace was the official residence in Istanbul of the Ottoman Sultans for 624 years, from 1465 to 1856. \u00a0Construction began in 1459 by the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II. \u00a0Topkapi Palace is a collection of courtyards and buildings which served a variety of purposes.<\/p>\n
There were lines to buy tickets just outside the main entrance. \u00a0Ticket choices are the basic fee to visit just the main area of the palace or a double ticket which includes visiting the “harem” with the basic admission. \u00a0Of course we wanted to see the Harem!<\/p>\n The harem was the private apartments where the Sultan lived with his mother, who managed the harem, his wives, concubines, their servants, and his children.<\/p>\n We walked through the maze of rooms and courtyards that comprise the Harem. \u00a0Beautiful blue and white tiles from the Turkish city of Iznik, line the walls of the apartments. \u00a0We saw the marble baths of the Sultan and the Queen Mother, and the “privy chamber” of Sultan Murat III. \u00a0We visited the apartments of the crown prince, and the Courtyard of the Favorites, and the smaller Courtyard of the Consorts and Concubines. \u00a0One could only imagine the hierarchy, competition, politics, and treachery that must have existed in the Sultan’s Harem.<\/p>\n It was raining a little when we left the Harem. \u00a0We sat on the steps of the beautiful Audience Chamber, taking cover under the overhanging roof. \u00a0The chamber is a one-room building where the sultans greeted visiting dignitaries.<\/p>\n We walked to the far end of the Palace grounds to an attractive outdoor cafe\/restaurant. \u00a0This was Seraglio Point looking out to the city and over o the Asian side of Istanbul. \u00a0We had cold drinks and some watermelon slices and rested a while admiring the beautiful view.<\/p>\n We then walked back through the Topkapi Palace grounds stopping at the Imperial Treasury which was built by Suliman I. \u00a0This building houses the arms collection and beautifully crafted swords and other Ottoman weapons. \u00a0Another part of the treasury is a vast collection of works of art, jewelry, gifts received by the sultans, and the spoils of wars. \u00a0One famous treasure is the Topkapi Dagger which gained fame as the object of a theft in a 1965 Hollywood Movie with Melina Mercuri and Peter Ustinof. \u00a0The golden hilt is ornamented with three large emeralds and the gold sheath is covered with diamonds and enamel. \u00a0Another famous treasure is the 86 carat pear-shaped diamond mounted with a double row of 49 diamonds. \u00a0This is the fourth largest diamond in the world.<\/p>\n<\/a>The Gate of Salutation of Topkapi Palace<\/p>\n<\/a>Courtyard of the Apartments of the Queen Mother<\/p>\n<\/a>Imperial Hall with the Throne of the Sultan<\/p>\n<\/a>Library of Sultan Ahmed III (center)and The Audience Chamber<\/p>\n<\/a>Interior of Another Library Building<\/p>\n<\/a>View of the Bosporus Straights and the Golden Horn<\/p>\n