Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace (“Topkapi Sarayi” in Turkish), the official and primary Istanbul residence of the Ottoman Sultans for four centuries, lies at the tip of the headland at the mouth of the Istanbul Strait. The palace was a setting for state occasions, and is a major tourist attraction today. The name 
translated from Turkish literally means the "Cannongate Palace", named after a nearby gate.
Shortly after his conquest of Istanbul, Fatih Sultan Mehmet ordered the construction of the palace as his principal residence. New additions and alterations continued until the mid-nineteenth century, leaving traces of the characters and styles of Ottoman Turkish architecture between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. With its gardens and pavilions contained by four courtyards, surrounded by enormous high walls, the palace covered a vast area. At the peak of its existence, up to 4,000 people resided in the palace.
Topkapi Palace was transformed into a museum of the Imperial era by a Turkish Government decree on 3 April 1924. The Topkapi Palace Museum is under the administration of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The palace complex has over 
hundreds of rooms and chambers; only the most important ones are accessible to the public today.
The palace is full of examples of Ottoman style Turkish architecture and is also home to large collections of porcelain, robes, weapons, shields, armoury, Ottoman miniatures, traditional calligraphic manuscripts and mural decorations, as well as a display of accumulated Ottoman treasures and jewellery.
Over the years the palace complex has undergone constant change. Unlike the ones in the West, Topkapi Palace is not a single massive building constructed at one go, but an organic structure which was never static, and reflects the styles and tastes of many periods in many independent units with individual functions.
The first courtyard is the outer part of Topkapi Palace which was once a service area, housing the palace hospital, firewood stores, carriage houses, stables and a bakery. The first courtyard was open to the public, and a bustling place where janissaries, tradesmen and others went about their business.The first courtyard opens to the second courtyard via the Gate of Salutations, the entrance to the palace.
This second courtyard, where the palace property began, measures 110 by 170 metres. To the east stand the immense palace kitchens. Today, some of the original kitchen equipment, as well as the palace's enormous collection of porcelain and glass, is housed here. To the west stands the Kubbealti, where the Imperial Divan of Vezirs and other 
statesmen convened to discuss Affairs of State, the Imperial Treasury and the Imperial Stables.
The third courtyard encircled by arcades, contains the Treasury where the gold and jewelled treasures of the Ottoman Sultans are displayed. Right behind the Gate of Felicity stands the Throne Room where the members of the Divan would submit their conclusions to the Sultan. The Library is situated behind the Throne Room. The Pavillion of the Holy Mantle contains holy relics brought from Egypt, as well as a collection of calligraphy. The Harem, the residence of the Sultans’ families, is a vast labyrinth of rooms and corridors, only part of which is open to the public.
In the fourth courtyard stands many pavilions. These pavilions are outstanding examples of seventeenth century Turkish architecture. Between the pavilions is a marble terrace with a pool in the centre and an arbour with a gilded baldachin roof commanding a view over the Golden Horn and the Istanbul Strait.
With its "irregular, asymmetric, non-axial, and un-monumental proportions", 
as some European travellers described it, Topkapi Palace was certainly quite different from the European palaces with which they were familiar, both in terms of appearance or of layout. But it was also fundamentally different from oriental or islamic palaces even though they might have had similar patterns of spatial organization. In fact, Topkapi was a sui generis microcosm, a paradise on earth or to borrow a term from Ottoman palace terminology “The Palace of Felicity”.
Meanwhile, “Concept Development and Experimentation Conference 2007” was held under the sponsorship of Turkish General Staff, ACT and USJFCOM in Istanbul on 5-8 November 2007. During the Conference, the Centre of Excellence – Defence Against Terrorism, organized a cultural programme, which also included a guided tour of Topkapi Palace, among other tourist attractions such as Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque etc. Topkapi Palace is definitely a must see on your next trip to Istanbul, and yet another reason to visit Turkey.
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