TOPKAPI PALACE

Topkapi Palace was built after the Muslim Ottomans sacked Christian Constantinople in 1453.  It is a fascinating place.  It is unlike western royal palaces since the Ottomans had no notion of vertical spaces, so everything is spread out, essentially in one story.  It seems to be a given that the sultan was the grandest ruler on earth, so there was no need to have a towering edifice visible for miles to intimidate and impress (think Versailles).  Rooms had multiple purposes, so a dining room was also a sitting room, receiving room, playroom, and bedroom. 

The palace is a series of buildings on a point overlooking the Bosporus.  It has a commanding view of the critically important waterways, as well as a defensible position.  We saw a series of buildings -- the treasury (no photos allowed of the egg-sized diamond or the famous emerald dagger), the golden cage (where the sultan's sons were kept in captivity until needed to rule), the harem, where the sultan lived with his wives and concubines, and where the concubines and wives lived with their children until sons were old enough to be shuttled off to the golden cage and the daughters to be married off.  We did not get to see the kitchens (to feed 5000+ daily) since they were being renovated.  But we did get to see the military band serenading the multitudes.

The view from the palace grounds. 

The sultan's official receiving room.  Note the rectangular grilled window where the ladies of the court (and occasionally the sultan himself) could watch and listen in unseen on the conversations in the receiving hall. 

The harem, the sultan's private quarters, if living with a few hundred woman is private.  No men were permitted except the eunuchs. 

The sultan's bedroom. 

The sultan's mother ran the harem; her sitting room. 

The outside of the harem, looking toward the city.