Topkapı Palace Museum
Ottoman imperial palace of courtyards, pavilions and treasuries above the Golden Horn, a museum since 1924.
Begun by Mehmed II shortly after the conquest of Constantinople and largely complete by 1478, Topkapı served as the main residence and administrative centre of the Ottoman sultans for almost four centuries. Rather than a single block, it is a walled campus of four successive courtyards strung along Seraglio Point, each more private than the last, linked by ceremonial gates such as the Imperial Gate and the Gate of Felicity. Kitchens, the council chamber, barracks, libraries and garden pavilions sit among trees and terraces overlooking the Bosphorus.
The court moved to Dolmabahçe in 1856 and the palace opened to the public as a museum in 1924. Its collections cover Ottoman and Islamic material at exceptional depth: the Imperial Treasury, the Chamber of the Sacred Relics, Chinese and Japanese porcelain in the palace kitchens, arms and armour, imperial robes and a large archive of manuscripts and portraits. The Harem, a warren of tiled rooms around the apartments of the sultan and the queen mother, is visited on a separate ticket.
Highlights
- Four courtyards with the Gate of Felicity and the Imperial Council chamber
- Imperial Treasury, including the Topkapı Dagger and the Spoonmaker's Diamond
- Harem apartments lined with İznik tiles and gilded woodwork
- Chinese and Japanese porcelain displayed in the vaulted palace kitchens
![[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]title QS:P1476,en:"[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]"label QS:Len,"[King Thibaw Min's Throne Room - Mandalay]"](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Felice_Beato_%28British%2C_born_Italy_-_%28King_Thibaw_Min%27s_Throne_Room_-_Mandalay%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/500px-Felice_Beato_%28British%2C_born_Italy_-_%28King_Thibaw_Min%27s_Throne_Room_-_Mandalay%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
