Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace was the traditional (until the 19th century) abode of the sultans and the Ottoman empire's chief administrative offices. It, like most of the historic sites, is just a ten minute walk up the hill from our campsite.

Entrance to the inner courtyard

Dirty old man at the entrance to the harem; actually, disappointingly, the harem 
was just the family quarters; and the sultan's mom kept strict control over whom 
the sultan was consorting with

The place is loaded with beautiful tile-work

Tiled dome in one of the ante-rooms

Cute little dioramas helped us to understand everything (actually there was ample 
English signage)

Throne room

Other throne room

From the bedroom, a Sultan's view of the new district

Beautiful stained glass

And--something we have not seen before-- matching tile on 
the adjacent wall



Attempted artsy-fartsy self-portrait in a harem mirror

More Topkapi environs

Entrance to the Treasury (no pix)

Looking across the Bosphorus to the (Byzantine) Maiden Tower

The Bosphorus from the terrace at Topkapi; actually we found Topkapi a bit 
disaapointing in the opulence department, far less opulent than the Moorish 
sites we have seen in Spain, most of which antedate Muslim Constantinople 
by centuries

Us, at the terrace, overlooking the Bosphorus