Ottoman Visions

Visit Topkapi Palace, built by Sultan Mehmet II after the conquest of Istanbul in the 15th century. The palace housed the sultans and their exotic entourage until the mid-19th century. The complex is a group of structures which incorporates works from successive periods of Ottoman reign. Today the museum displays priceless collections of the imperial treasury, numerous pieces of Chinese porcelain, traditional costumes of the sultans and their families and a special section for the preservation of the relics of the Prophet Mohammed.

After Topkapi, the final stop is Hagia Eirene, the Church of the Holy Peace — one of the few churches in Istanbul never converted into a mosque, as it was used as an arsenal until the 19th century. Hagia Eirene reputedly stands on the site of a pre-Christian temple and has the distinction of being the first church built in Byzantium as it was converted into the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

From there we visit Gülhane Park, once part of the outer gardens of Topkapı Palace, where the Edict of Gülhane — a declaration of rights and liberties that played an essential role in the modernisation of the Ottoman Empire — was proclaimed. After the proclamation of the Republic, Gülhane Park was for many years home to the Istanbul Zoo.