Topkapi Palace

#86 - Istanbul, Turkey

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Calling it a palace is an understatement - it's more like a city.

The palace is impressive not only for its size, but also its importance in history – especially for the Ottoman Empire between the years 1478-1856. It was the official center and home to the sultan for 380 years. It consists of four courtyards and buildings inside – all examples of fine art, architecture and history, making our #86 AbsoluteVisit a must see.

Slide 1: Topkapi Palace Entrance Gate

#1 Topkapi Palace Photo - Brad Harbach
Slide 1: Topkapi Palace Church of Hagia EIrene Fi

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Slide 2: Topkapi Palace Gate of Salutation

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Slide 3: Topkapi Palace Tower of Justice

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Slide 4: Topkapi Palace courtyard fountains

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Quick Facts & History

The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey was formerly the residence of Turkish sultans for over 300 years and has evolved into one of Istanbul’s most popular tourism sites as a museum.
The museum is home to royal treasure and jewels, weapons, armor, and other prized items that once belonged to Turkish royalty.
The palace was actually a home to almost 1,000 people, acting as a small city when you factor in all that was encompassed within its walls.
The Palace fills up 173 acres with various structures such as kitchens, workshops, baths, offices, residences, gardens, bakeries, a hospital, and lodging for all of its employees.

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Topkapi Palace Entrance Gate
Ranked #1 by Brad Harbach

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Topkapi Palace and Istanbul

Blog: Quit and Travel

The Palace was slammed with tourists and made viewing everything �interesting�. The Palace is not so much of a palace anymore, but is now much more of a museum with the different rooms hosting pictures, jewels and art work. I must say that I do believe that the �wow-factor� senses of both Brad and I have been severely dulled as the Palace really failed to impress us all that much. The palace is large and it is quite old, but it lacked in detail. The detail we did find was primarily hand-painted tile and while this work is time-consuming and extraordinary in itself it pales in comparison... read more

Submitted By: Brad Harbach

Submitted On: May 1, 2012

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