Epic Travel → Europe → Turkey → Topkapi Palace

Location: Sultanahmet District, Istanbul

Time Required: 3 – 5 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Admission is 40 Turkish Lira (~$10 US) for Topkapi Palace; it’s an additional 25 TL to visit the Harem and an additional 20 TL to visit Hagia Irene – alternatively you can buy the Museum Pass (85 TL), which is good for 5 days and provides admission to Topkapi Palace and Hagia Irene, with a 15 TL optional supplement to visit the harem; the pass will also get you into the Hagia Sophia and the Mosaic Museum. Open daily except Tuesdays from 9:00am – 4:45pm (until 6:45pm during the summer, 15 April – 30 October); other hours may be observed on religious holidays. For additional information, including religious holiday scheduling, visit the official Topkapi palace website.

What’s Nearby?: Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar, Great Palace Mosaic Museum, Gülhane Park

Originally designated as the “New Palace”, so as not to confuse it with the nearby Great Palace which had been abandoned for so long it was in ruins (you can see mosaics excavated from the Great Palace at the Great Palace Mosaic Museum), construction began on Topkapi in 1459 CE – although it wouldn’t acquire the name “Topkapi” until the 19th century, by which time it had declined in importance and was mainly used for official functions (imperial treasury and that sort of thing). When the Ottoman Empire fell in 1923, it became a museum, and although only a fraction of the hundreds of rooms are open to the public, the palace is so large that you don’t really notice the loss. You can visit the harem and the treasury, which includes the 86 carat Spoonmaker Diamond, view the arms collection, see the imperial hall with the throne of the emperor, explore the seemingly endless courtyards (the outer courtyard contains Hagia Irene, which served as the church of the Patriarchate before the Hagia Sophia was completed in 537 CE and is now a museum), and marvel at exquisitely decorated walls, covered in painted panels or thousands of mosaics. You’ll probably feel exhausted from sensory overload long before you’ve seen everything there is to see here, but that’ll just give you a good excuse to make a return trip.

Epic Travel → Europe → Turkey → Topkapi Palace