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The Topkapi Palace is one of the world's great palace and a premiere attraction. Visiting Istanbul without touring the Topkapi is like visiting London without seeing the Tower of London. Your trip to Istanbul is not complete without it. For that reason the Topkapi is ridiculously crowded and very expensive compared to other attractions in Turkey.
The palace was first built by Mehmet the Conqueror just after his capture of Constantinople in 1453. His successors lived here for nearly 400 years until they began to take up residence in the Dolmabahce Palace, just across the Golden Horn.
The palace is quite different from the European concept of a palace. It is much more enclosed being built around four courtyards. Surrounding these courtyards, within the perimeter walls, are a series of pavilions, chambers, halls, kitchens and even smaller courtyards. Among them are the famous harem and treasury. Each of these must see attractions can only be visited by purchasing an additional ticket. This is why the cost of your tour of the Topkapi with cost you an arm and a leg. I figure that my visit cost me $34.00CDN in all. Just the same, the whole place is engrossing and it is hard not to pass up not seeing all of it.
Supposedly it cost $10.00 to just enter the palace grounds and a additional $10.00 each to tour the Harem and the Treasury. This price will adjust with the change in the exchange rate. So there maybe some relief from the high cost.
The palace is open everyday but Tuesday from 9:30am to 5pm. The Harem which only can be visited by guided tour, is closed at lunchtime. Leave a Comment Phone: 512-0480Directions: In the Sultanahmet.
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To enter the harem you have to go on a guided tour. Be sure to que to get a place in the next group.
Entrance is 10 000 000 TL.
After entering the harem the group first stops in the old qaurters of the black eunuchs where the walls are decorated with Kütahya tiles from the 17th century. Leave a Comment
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Last year (2003) the entrance fee to Topkapi Palace was
12 000 000 TL. But that is not enough. If you want to see the best parts, the harem and the treasury, you have to pay more. 10 000 000 TL for the harem and another 10 000 000 TL for the treasury.
I decided to see the harem but not the treasury as it would have been to expensive. But now I wish I had seen the treasury as well. Leave a Comment
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Between 1459 and 1465, shortly after his conquest of Constantinople, Mehmet II built Topkapi Palace as his principal residence. Situated atop a hill in Seraglio Point, the palace also served as the residence for subsequent sultans until Sultan Abdul Mecit I abandoned it in 1853 in favor of the luxurious Dolmabahce Palace built farter north up the Bosphorus. One of the most notable features of the palace is the harem (the Arabic word for "forbidden"), the rsidence of the sultan's wives, concubines, and children.
Topkapi Palace has been open to the public as a museum since 1924 and an entry fee is required (12,000,000 TL when we visited). The palace is enormous and can easily take several hours to see in its totality. You can purchase a separate ticket to tour the harem, but we passed on it after being told that you don't get much for your money and that the manaquins throughout the tour of kind of hokey.
Just down the hill from Topkapi Palace is the Istanbul Archeological Museum, also worth a visit. It charges a small fee and is filled with four stories of interesting archaeological items. The Archeological Museum can easily take several hours to see in its entirety as well. Leave a Comment
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The Topkapi Palace was one of the sights I liked the most on my visit to Istanbul. It is huge, composed of 4 Courtyards, so , if you want to see it all, be sure to save at least a morning to see it.
The Topkapi Palace was more than just the private residence of the Sultan and his court. It was the seat of the supreme executive and judiciary council, the Divan and the training school, the Palace School. In the First Courtyard, there were a hospital, bakery,arsenal, a state mint, a part of the treasury and the Outer Service. It was open to public. The Second Courtyard was open to people who had business with the council. The Third Courtyard was reserved to the Sultan's household and palace children. The Fourth Courtyard was exclusively reserved for the Sultan's use.
I specially liked to see the Harem and the Treasury. You have to buy a ticket separately to see the Harem, which is located in the 2nd Courtyard and you will have a guided tour. The tours are conducted every 30 minutes.( 9.30am - 12.30pm and 1.30pm-4.00pm). A ticket costs 10 YTL.
The Treasury consists of four different halls which are located on the eastern corner of the Third Courtyard. These rooms were used as a suite of reception rooms by some of the sultans.
It has wonderful jewellery and treasure pieces, incredibly valuable. Leave a Comment
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Topkapi Palace is unlike most palaces in the world. When you are there you will likely ask the question Is this it? It is a collection of single-story buildings with an emphasis on openness. There are plenty of courtyards and gardens, each with the purpose of being independent from the rest of the palace. The women of the harem, for example, were unable to go beyond their quarters. So everything they needed in their daily lives was right there. Highlights of any visit will include the Harem, the Imperial Treasury with a collection of the sultans robes and the Sacred Safekeeping Rooms. In this last section there are relics of the Prophet Muhammad, including a tooth and a strand of his beard.
Unfortunately, there is not much furniture left in Topkapi Palace. In the 19th century, the sultans moved to glamorous mansions on the European side of Bosphorus such as Dolmabahce Palace. Address: Topkapi SarayiPhone: 5120480
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Shortly after the conquest of Istanbul Mehmet the conqueror started to build the palace. After that sultans lived here for almost 400 years until sultan Abdülmecid I left Topkapi for Dolmabahce Palace in 1853.
The palace is not one single building but several buildings around four big courtyards. Leave a Comment
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Shortly after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the young leader of the Turks, Mehmet II, organized construction on a new Grand Palace for his empire. After it's completion in 1465, Topkapi Palace housed the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years, until Dolmabahçe Palace was opened in 1856. Then in 1924 under the direction of Atatürk, Topkapi was turned into a museum. The site of Topkapi, precisely where the original city was founded in the 7th century B.C., provides amazing views of much of Istanbul, as well as the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, & the Sea of Marmara. The numerous, and well maintained gardens and courtyards among the complex are quite lovely, and provide an excellent backdrop for the structure itself. A general admission ticket will allow you to see the main grounds of the palace, along with many areas within it. For additional fees you can see the Palace Treasury or take a guided tour of the Harem: the residence of many Sultan wives and children. Among the sights here, there are many treasures and relics from old empire, as well as costumes and ceremonial items from several past Sultans. Some of the decor of the palace is amazing, with detailed Iznik ceramic tiles and golden trim surrounding most of the ceilings. There is also wonderful information in each area regarding it's significance and history, and a timeline of each Sultan's reign. Due to it's popularity, Topkapi can get quite crowded during the peak of the day. But it is definitely a site worth visiting in Istanbul! Directions: Located in Sultanahmet
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Another sight that we visited in Sultanahmet district of the old Istanbul is the Topkapi Palace. For four centuries Topkapi Palace was a home to all Ottomans Sultans until 1860. The palace is divided into many different pavilions, chambers rooms. In the chambers of the Sacred Relics there are many artefacts belonging to Prophet Muhammad, his footprint, the swords, the bamboo bow, hairs from the beard and chest of the Holy Mantle. The display of the black stone (Hacer ul Esved stone) with the golden cover is the black stone which fell from heaven within the Kaaba. The chambers display of one of the oldest Koran written on deer skin. The relics were brought to Istanbul when the Ottomans assumed the Caliphates of Islam. There are also many other relics in the chamber.
The Ottomans kitchens are converted into gallery. The gallery display the finest collection of the Imperial Ottoman Empire. In here you will see gifts from other empire, the collection of Chinese porcelain from the Ming dynasty, Japanese porcelain, silverware, crystals and others.
Other rooms like the Costume, Treasury, Harem that tourist can visits. The Treasury room is a collection of the most expensive diamond. The Costume room display some of the Sultans costumes. Then theres the Harem room where the black eunuchs, concubines, the Sultan mother are kept. The occupants had no freedom. No one from the outside world was permitted to enter the room. The Harem room was a place for the Sultans to have sexual activities.
The restaurants and café is located on the north west of the palace. We had lunch and the view facing the Bosphorus is superb. While eating you see the Asian side of Istanbul and to the left the Golden horn bridge.
Give yourself about 2 hours minimum to explore Topkapi Palace.
Open 9am - 5pm, close on Tuesday
Cost $10 - $15, extra cost for Harem Pavillion Address: Topkapi Sarayi Sultanahmet District Old IstanbulPhone: 90 212 512 0480Directions: Not far from Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome
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The Topkapi made me wish I had visited in spring instead of January (I'll HAVE to revisit). The grounds are huge, and wandering about was a true pleasure.
ABout the Treasury: I didn't think it was worth the ($9 USD) admission price, but here is why. It mainly features jewel-decorated items that in their own right are splendid, but not my thing, personally. If you seek works of art that are more expressionistic or decorative, there are better places to spend your time and money. Status-reaffirming ems just don't thrill me. But if they thrill you, there won't be any disappointment at the Treasury.
About the Harem: do see it, as the Iznik tile work alone make it worth the time, as do the architectural elements in general - it's special. My favorite part was the Dining Room of Ahmet III, or the Fruit Room. Beautiful. Who thinks these things up???
I did have one experience at the Topkapi I will never forget. There is an exhibit there - I think it's permanent - on religious objects and Korans. It's a great exhibit. The entire time I was there, I heard music, and didn't think anything of it until I walked into a room to see a man in a glass-enclosed cublicle (of sorts) singing the Koran. It may be one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard, and I must have stood there for 20 minutes listening to him. That day I made it a point to stop in a music shop and purchase a CD of a man singing the Koran, but it was not nearly as eloquent as what I had heard in person (if anyone knows of an outstanding recording of such a thing, please let me know!). Because of the song, I felt further immersed in the culture I was viewing. If you happen to be there, take time to listen... it has its own fruitful rewards. Leave a Comment Address: Babihumayun Cad
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