landscape photography  topkapı palace  topkapı sarayı  ancient history  antik tarih  ottoman history  walls of constantinople  fatih sultan mehmet  osmanlı tarihi  sultan abdülmecid ı  seraglio point  sarayburnu  otlukkapı  otluk gate  demirkapı  demir gate  

A view of Topkapı Palace from the Seraglio Point, seaside in winter (Turkish: Kışın deniz kenarı Sarayburnu'ndan Topkapı Sarayı'nın bir görüntüsü)

Topkapı Palace was home to all the Ottoman Sultans until the reign of Abdülmecit I (1839-1860), a period of nearly four centuries. The order for the construction of the Topkapı Palace on the Seraglio Point (Sarayburnu) overlooking both Marmara and Bosphorus was given by Fatih Sultan Mehmet II after the conquest of Constantinapolis in 1453. The place was an ancient olive grove. The final form of the first palace covered an area 700m², and was enclosed with fortified walls 1400 meters in length. The walls were pierced by a number of gates, namely the Otluk Gate (Otlukkapı), the Demir Gate(Demirkapı) and the Imperial gate (Bab-i Humayun), and a number of minor angled gates between them. After the reign of Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror, the palace grew steadily to form a city like complex of buildings and annexes, including a shore palace known as the Topkapı shore palace, as it was situated near the cannon gate -Topkapı- of the ancient walls of Istanbul (Walls of Constantinople).