Topkapı was the home of the Ottoman sultans from 1465-1856. "Topkapi" is the spelling in English; in Turkish it's "Topkapı". Turkish has 29 letters in its alphabet, including both "i" and "ı". The "ı" (without a dot) is pronounced more like "uh", so in Turkish, the pronunciation is "TOP-kappuh".
We planned to spend an entire day at Topkapı Palace — it is huge, an entire small city unto itself in its time. This detail is from a fountain at the entrance.
The palace has a commanding view of the Sea of Marmara (south), the Bosphorous (northeast), and the Golden Horn (northwest).
The first courtyard is very large and lined by columns. Eero liked them.
It shouldn't be surprising in a palace, but there really were some spectacular details.
The big attraction at Topkapı is the harem. We were a little puzzled by this, because there's a significant extra fee to get in, and because why would it be that interesting (at least empty)? But it turned out to be well worth it. But first we had some nice beverages.
This is just outside the harem entrance.
The tilework was amazing inside. For example:
Cielo had bought a shawl as a souvenir - they are sold everywhere, and used whenever women want to go into a mosque. Given Cielo's general preference for long pants and long sleeve shirts, we suspect she was eyeing the burqas in Istanbul with a little admiration. The shawl became a very popular toy on the day we went to the palace.
Even the walkways were done with great detail.
There was a lot to see.
