This palace was the center from which all state affairs of the Ottoman state were conducted for four hundred years. The first stone of this magnificent building was laid in 1453 by order of Sultan Mehmed.
The palace was built on the remains of the Roman city. Work on it continued almost until the 1856th century. And then it was called "Sara-i-Cedide-i-Amire". Since 1923, the palace changed its purpose. Now the wives of former kings, either overthrown or killed, lived here. And in XNUMX, when Turkey became a republic, the palace was turned into a museum. This was done with all the palaces at that time. The initiative belonged to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Most of the palace was destroyed by fires and earthquakes in the Middle Ages. The building was subject to numerous reconstructions. That is why there is a great mix of styles in the complex's appearance and architecture.
The palace is a museum, both of its architecture and of the exhibits stored in it. The Topkapi collections are third in rarity after the Austrian Habsburg and Russian tsars. The beauty of the ceremonial gates, called "Bab i Humayun", is astounding.
In 1728, a fountain building was built near them. After passing through the "Glorious Gate", built in 1478, you find yourself in the spacious "First Courtyard" of the complex. Here are the service and residential premises, the almshouse, the gendarmerie office, and beyond them the horizon opens up, to which the sea surface leads.
If you go to the left side of Topkapi, you can also get to other attractions of Istanbul: the ancient mint building, the Church of St. Irene and the Archaeological Museum.
The Bab i Salam Gate is also called the Middle Gate and is the main one. It is from here that the tour of the museum begins. On the left side is the tower in which the representatives of the nobility were imprisoned. Further on is a well-kept courtyard where plane trees and cypresses grow, green all year round.
In ancient times, peacocks with spread tails and graceful gazelles walked around the garden. A heavenly place. On the right side are the kitchens where royal dishes were prepared. This palace-museum is located in the Sultanahmet quarter - in the Old City.
