Why Topkapi Palace is special
The sprawling Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople), Turkey is today a world-class museum displaying accumulated treasures of the sultans.
In the 15th to 19th Centuries, the Sultans lived in and ruled the vast Ottoman Empire from the Topkapi Palace. Thousands of bureaucrats teemed within its walls.

Strategically situated
The Topkapi Palace site was militarily strategic – it stands on a formidable bluff overlooking the vital shipping lanes on the Bosphorus, Golden Horn and Sea of Marmara. From its walls, you can see the continents of both Asia and Europe.

Intact treasures
The treasures of the Sultan are still mostly intact because Topkapi Palace was never plundered by enemy armies.

Visitor highlights
The Treasury Room of Topkapi Palace displays up-close one of the world's largest diamonds, the 86-carat Spoon Maker.
Other visitor dazzlers include the bejeweled sultan's throne and the famed Topkapi Dagger (it's the emerald and diamond encrusted knife the thieves in the classic 1964 film "Topkapi" failed to steal).
Don't miss exploring the Topkapi Palace's Harem, a maze of several hundred cramped rooms and passageways. Here, in seclusion, lived the sultan's many wives, concubines and children - all closely guarded around the clock by eunuchs. Palace intrigue in the Harem was rife with rivalry. It was not rare for one of the sultan’s wives to poison the son of another wife to insure that her son would accede to the throne.

What leading travel books say about Topkapi Palace
The hoard of treasures that survive in Topkapi Palace is incredible.
Western Turkey
Cadogan Guides

Topkapi's harem is a fascinating place whether you're interested in architecture, history or things more prurient.
Turkey
Open Road Guides