Jan 6, 2014
Monday, we caught the Tram to Sultanahmet and walked the cobblestones over to Tokapi Sarayi (Tokapi Palace). Tokapi was the court of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th-19th century. The palace grounds are huge and house many interesting buildings, including the harem (which is actually many rooms unto itself!) where you find these stunning tiled walls and three tiered water fountain which was designed to loudly trickle so to obscure the conversations of the Sultan so sneaks couldn’t eavesdrop on him. Many of the real treasures of Tokapi including the prophet Muhammad’s possessions (and beard fragments) have strict “no-photography” rules. So, sorry you’ll have to google those!