First Courtyard

The First Courtyard (I. Avlu or Alay Meydanı) spans Seraglio Point and is surrounded by high walls^[3].

In 1509 a massive earthquake destroyed these walls from the water's edge to the garden gate. They required extensive renovation. This First Courtyard functioned as an outer precinct or park. The steep slopes had already been terraced under Byzantine rule.

This court was also known as the Court of the Janissaries or the Parade Court.

The First Courtyard contains the former Imperial Mint (Darphane-i Âmire, constructed in 1727), the church of Hagia Eirene, the Istanbul Archaeology Museum (constructed during the 19th century) and various fountains, pavilions (for example, the Çinili Pavilion, or Tiled Pavilion) and gardens (including Gülhane Park, the old imperial rose garden).

The Çinili Pavilion is set within the outer walls and dates from 1473. It was built by Mehmed II as a pleasure palace.

The exterior glazed bricks show a Central Asian influence, especially from the Bibi-Khanym Mosque in Samarkand. The square, axial plan represents the four corners of the world and symbolizes, in architectural terms, the universal authority and sovereignty of the Sultan. As there is no Byzantine influence, the building is ascribed to an unknown Persian architect. The stone-framed brick and the polygonal pillars of the façade are typical of Persia. A grilled gate leads to the basement. Two flights of stairs above this gate lead to a roofed colonnaded terrace. This portico was rebuilt in the 18th century. The great door in the middle, surrounded by a tiled green arch, leads to the vestibule and then to a loftily domed court . The three royal apartments are situated behind, with the middle apartment in apsidal form.

These apartments look out over the park to the Bosphorus. The network of ribbed vaulting suggests Gothic revival architecture, but it actually adds weight to the structure instead of sustaining it. The blue-and-white tiles on the wall are arranged in hexagons and triangles in the Bursa manner. Some show delicate patterns of flowers, leaves, clouds or other abstract forms. The white plasterwork is in the Persian manner. On both wings of the domed court are eyvans, vaulted recesses open on one side. The pavilion contains many examples of İznik tiles and Seljuk pottery and now houses the Museum of Islamic Art.

The Fountain of the Executioner is where the executioner washed his hands and sword after a decapitation. It is located on the right side in front of the Gate of Salutation.

Gate of Salutation

The large Gate of Salutation (Arabic: Bâb-üs Selâm), also known as the Middle Gate (Turkish: Orta Kapı), leads into the palace and the Second Courtyard. This crenelated gate has two large octagonal pointed towers. The date of construction of this gate is not clear, since the architecture of the towers is of Byzantine influence rather than Ottoman. An inscription at the door dates this gate to at least 1542 during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II. In a miniature painting from the Hünername from 1584, a low-roofed structure with three windows above the arch between the towers is clearly visible, probably a guards' hall that has since disappeared. Only the sultan was allowed to pass this gate on horseback. The gate is richly decorated on both sides and in the upper part with religious inscriptions and monograms of sultans.

Imperial Gate

The main gate is called the Imperial Gate (Arabi: Bâb-ı Hümâyûn or Greek: Porta Augusta), also known as Gate of the Sultan (Turkish: Saltanat Kapısı) located to the south ^[2]. This massive gate, originally dating from 1478, is now covered in 19th-century marble. The massiveness of this stone gate accentuates its defensive character. Its central arch leads to a high-domed passage. Gilded Ottoman calligraphy adorns the structure at the top, with verses from the Holy Koran and tughras of the sultans. Identified tughras are of Sultan Mehmed II and Abdül Aziz I, who renovated the gate. On each side of the hall are rooms for the guard. The gate was open from morning prayer until the last evening prayer. No one apart from viziers and foreign dignitaries was allowed passage through the gate.

According to old documents, there was a wooden apartment above the gate area until the second half of the 19th century. It was used first as a pavilion by Mehmed, later as a depository for the properties of those who died inside the palace without heirs and eventually as the receiving department of the treasury. It was also used as a vantage point for the ladies of the harem on special occasions.

The Imperial Gate is the main entrance into the First Courtyard.

Topkapı Palace History

The palace complex is located on the Seraglio Point (Sarayburnu), a promontory overlooking the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, with the Bosphorus in plain sight from many points of the palace. The site is hilly and one of the highest points close to the sea. During Greek and Byzantine times, the acropolis of the ancient Greek city of Byzantium stood here. Some of its remains are still visible in the area now known as the Second Courtyard of the palace. There is an underground Byzantine cistern located in the Second Courtyard that was used throughout Ottoman times. Remains of a small church on the acropolis have also been excavated in modern times. The nearby Church of Hagia Eirene, though located in the the First Courtyard, is not considered a part of the old Byzantine acropolis.

Initial construction

After the Ottoman conquest and the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II found the imperial Byzantine Great Palace of Constantinople largely in ruins. The Ottoman court initially set itself up in the Eski Sarayı, today the site of Istanbul University. The Sultan then searched for a better location and chose the old Byzantine acropolis, ordering the construction of a new palace in 1459. It was originally called the New Palace (Yeni Sarayı) to distinguish it from the previous residence. It received the name "Topkapı" in the 19th century, after a (now destroyed) Topkapı shore pavilion.

Layout

The palace is a vast complex with an assortment of various buildings, courtyards, gardens and galleries, rather than a single structure. The main compound is a rough rectangle when seen from above, divided into four main courtyards and the harem. The main axis is from south to north, the outermost (first) courtyard starting at the south with each successive courtyard leading up north. The first courtyard was the one that was most accessible, the innermost (fourth) courtyard and the harem the most inaccessible, being the sole private domain of the sultan. Access to these courtyards was restricted by high walls and controlled through gates.

Sultan Mehmed II established the basic layout of the palace. This basic layout governed the pattern of future renovations and extensions. He summoned experienced craftsmen, especially former inhabitants of Constantinople who had fled to Edirne and Bursa after the fall of the city. He used the most expensive and rare materials of that time, trying to restore the city its former glory. The palace was completed in 1465.

Contrary to other royal residences which had strict master plans, such as Schönbrunn Palace or the Palace of Versailles, Topkapı Palace developed over the course of centuries, with various sultans adding and changing various structures and elements. The resulting asymmetry is the result of this erratic growth and change over time.^[1]

On the southern and western sides borders the large former imperial flower park, today Gülhane Park. Surrounding the palace compound on the southern and eastern side is the Sea of Marmara. Various related buildings such as small summer palaces (kasrı), pavilions, kiosks (köşkü) and other structures for royal pleasures and functions used to exist at the shore, that have since dissappeared over the course of time due to neglect and the construction of the shoreline railroad in the 19th century. The last remaining structure of the outer limits that still exists today is Sepetçiler Palace, constructed in 1592 by Sultan Murad III. Thus the total area size of Topkapı Palace was in fact much larger than what it appears today.

Function

Topkapı Palace was the main residence of the sultan and his court. It was initially the seat of government as well as the imperial residence. Even though access was strictly regulated, inhabitants of the palace rarely had to venture out since the palace functioned almost as an autonomous entity, a city within a city. Audience and consultation chambers and areas served for the political workings of the empire. For the residents and visitors, the palace had its own water supply through underground cisterns and the great kitchens provided for nourishment on a daily basis. Dormitories, gardens, libraries, schools, even mosques were at the service of the court.

Topkapı Palace

Topkapı Sarayı in Turkish) is a palace in Istanbul, Turkey, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans, from 1465 to 1853. The palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments and is a major tourist attraction today. The name directly translates as "Cannongate Palace", the palace being named after a nearby gate.

Initial construction started in 1459, ordered by Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. The palace is a complex made up of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. At the height of its existence as a royal residence the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people.

Topkapı Palace gradually lost its importance at the end of the 17th century, as the Sultans preferred to spend more time in their new palaces along the Bosporus. In 1853, Sultan Abdül Mecid I decided to move the court to the newly built Dolmabahçe Palace, the first European-style palace in the city. Some functions such as the imperial treasury, the library, mosque and mint were retained though.

After the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1921, Topkapı Palace was transformed by government decree on April 3, 1924 into a museum of the imperial era. The Topkapı Palace Museum is under the administration of the Ministry Of Culture and Tourism. The palace complex has hundreds of rooms and chambers, but only the most important are accessible to the public today. The complex is guarded by officials of the ministry as well as armed guards of the Turkish military.

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.