Topkapi Palace - Istanbul

Just one area inside the walls of this Ottoman residence. It was the official and primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans, from 1465 to 1853. It was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments as well as the harem. The palace is a complex made up of four main courtyards and many buildings. At the height of its existence as a royal residence, the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people, and covered a larger area with a long shoreline. 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. See more info on the palace at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topkap%C4%B1_Palace Note: The woman in this picture is probably a tourist from Egypt.