TOPKAPI PALACE
When Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror took
Istanbul in 1453, he first ordered the
construction of a new palace for this new
Ottoman capital, on a site in the district of
Beyazit where Istanbul University stands
today. But before long, he changed his mind
and had a number of buildings constructed
on the headland to the southeast. This was
to become the palace [...]

The ferry going over is packed. A young man with mountains of packages tells us in fractured German that he’s a guest worker in Germany just arrived home on a visit. The packages are presents. Uskudar’a pier is bedlam. We have no map but don’t need one; we just follow the crowds to a platform [...]

The Hilton occupies an expensive stretch of the Bosporus. The British Fleet is in and the Hilton is swarming with the Queen’s tars, most of them headed for the gaming tables. The lobby, clicking with dice and clacking with chips, sounds like Vegas. Even the view from the dining room, the fleet lit up with [...]

The famous Sahaflar Carsisi, in Bayzil Square, is directly opposite the covered bazaar’s Spoon Makers’ Gate. This historic area has about 50 small shops. This site was the Chartoprateia of Byzantium, the Book and Paper market during the Byzantine period. After the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, fez makers and metal engravers used the area. [...]