The Topkapı Palace is a palace in Istanbul,Turkey, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign. Note: exteriorly, this place was so big, it was hard to get pictures of it. Inside; they limited picture taking just about everywhere.
Heavy, but friendly, security.
The palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments and is a major tourist attraction today, containing the most holy relics of the Muslim world such as the Prophet Mohammed's cloak and sword, a tooth (?) and bits of his beard. Several other sacred objects are on display, including the Staff of Moses, the turban of Joseph, Moses’ rod he used to divide the Red Sea, and John the Baptist’s (or the Apostle John’s) right arm!----whoa we didn’t learn this in church!! Hey, we saw it, under heavy guard and no pictures allowed, you will have to take our word for this!
In addition to its holy relics it had an armory that was amazing and its Crown Jewels included, among thousands of other items, an 86 carat diamond and a pair of candle sticks four feet tall, several hundred pounds, of pure gold with over a 1000 diamonds in each
This is my only undercover picture I got. Taken in the armory, it is of a shield and helmet, put gold, inlayed with precious stones. I had my camera hidden in my jacket, I still got yelled at.
The palace is full of examples of Ottoman architecture and also contains large collections of porcelain, robes, weapons, shields, armor, Ottoman miniatures, Islamic calligraphic manuscripts and murals, as well as a display of Ottoman treasure and jewelry.
This palace was sorta like a cross between The Forbidden City in Beijing and the Tower of London----sorry----on steroids. Again, we had never even heard of this in school, or since. Another uncovered Turkey Treasure.
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