Column of Leo

The Topkapı Palace (Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı; Ottoman Turkish: طوپقپو سرايى, romanized: Ṭopḳapu Sarāyı, lit. 'Cannon Gate Palace'), or the Seraglio, is a large museum in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. In the 15th and 16th centuries it served as the main residence and administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans. Construction, ordered by the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, began in 1459, six years after the conquest of Constantinople. Topkapı was originally called the "New Palace" (Yeni Saray or Saray-ı Cedîd-i Âmire) to distinguish it from the Old Palace (Eski Saray or Sarây-ı Atîk-i Âmire) in Beyazıt Square. It was given the name Topkapı, meaning Cannon Gate, in the 19th century. The complex expanded over the centuries, with major renovations after the 1509 earthquake and the 1665 fire. The palace complex consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. Female members of the Sultan's family lived in the harem, and leading state officials, including the Grand Vizier, held meetings in the Imperial Council building. After the 17th century, Topkapı gradually lost its importance. The sultans of that period preferred to spend more time in their new palaces along the Bosphorus. In 1856 Sultan Abdulmejid I decided to move the court to the newly built Dolmabahçe Palace. Topkapı retained some of its functions, including the imperial treasury, library and mint. After the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, a government decree dated April 3, 1924 transformed Topkapı into a museum. Turkey's Ministry of Culture and Tourism now administers the Topkapı Palace Museum. The palace complex has hundreds of rooms and chambers, but only the most important are accessible to the public as of 2020, including the Ottoman Imperial Harem and the treasury, called hazine where the Spoonmaker's Diamond and the Topkapi Dagger are on display. The museum collection also includes Ottoman clothing, weapons, armor, miniatures, religious relics, and illuminated manuscripts such as the Topkapi manuscript. Officials of the ministry as well as armed guards of the Turkish military guard the complex. The Topkapı Palace forms a part the Historic Areas of Istanbul, a group of sites in Istanbul that UNESCO recognised as a World Heritage Site in 1985.

The Column of the Goths (Turkish: Gotlar Sütunu) is a Roman victory column dating to the third or fourth century A.D. It stands in what is now Gülhane Park, Istanbul, Turkey.

Byzantium () or Byzantion (Greek: Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name Byzantion and its Latinization Byzantium continued to be used as a name of Constantinople sporadically and to varying degrees during the thousand year existence of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium was colonized by Greeks from Megara in the 7th century BC and remained primarily Greek-speaking until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in AD 1453.

Mangana (Greek: Μάγγανα) was one of the quarters of Byzantine-era Constantinople. Located on the easternmost edge of the Sirkeci peninsula in which the city is located, it housed an imperial palace, arsenal and several churches and charitable establishments throughout the middle and late Byzantine periods.

The Tiled Kiosk (Turkish: Çinili Köşk) is a pavilion set within the outer walls of Topkapı Palace and dates from 1472 as shown on the tile inscript above the main entrance. It was built by the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II as a pleasure palace or kiosk. It is located in the most outer parts of the palace, next to Gülhane Park. It was also called Glazed Kiosk (Sırça Köşk).It was used as the Imperial Museum (Ottoman Turkish: Müze-i Hümayun, Turkish: İmparatorluk Müzesi) between 1875 and 1891. In 1953, it was opened to the public as a museum of Turkish and Islamic art, and was later incorporated into the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, housing the Museum of Islamic Art. The pavilion contains many examples of İznik tiles and Seljuk pottery.

Sarayburnu (Turkish: Sarayburnu, meaning Palace Cape; known in English as the Seraglio Point) is a promontory quarter separating the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, Turkey. The area is where the renowned Topkapı Palace and Gülhane Park stand. Sarayburnu is included in the historic areas of Istanbul, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

The Hodegon Monastery (also Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria or Monastery of the Hodegoi) in Constantinople was allegedly founded by Saint Pulcheria (399–453), a daughter of Emperor Arcadius. The monastery is considered one of the three main Marian foundations built in the city along with the Blachernai and the Chalkoprateia.The monastery was situated beyond the Chalkoprateia by the sea and served as the counterpart of the Blachernai so that these structures bracket the city of Constantinople as well as the processions such as the weekly Blachernai procession that began at the Theodosian walls and ended at Chalkoprateia. The Hodegon Monastery is believed to be named after the term hodegoi, which referred to the guides who led the blinds toward the miraculous well within the structure.Tradition states that the monastery held the Icon of the Hodegetria, believed to have been painted by Saint Luke. According to an account by Xanthopoulos, this relic was brought from Antioch. While it was at Hodegon, Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo described it sometime in 1403 to 1406 as a painting with a square panel that was covered with precious stones such as emeralds, sapphires, topaz, and pearls. When the icon was sent to Pulcheria, she took a vow of chastity. The name of the icon, Panagia Hodegetria ("She who shows the Way"), is given through the legend which tells that nearby the church of the monastery was a source where the blind and all who suffered eye disorders came to be healed, since the Holy Virgin would have appeared to two blind people and guided them here where she restored their vision. The sanctuary was rebuilt by Emperor Michael III (842–867) but today only a few ruins are visible near Gülhane Park.

Gülhane Park (Turkish: Gülhane Parkı, "Rosehouse Park"; from Persian: گلخانه Gulkhāna, "house of flowers") is a historical urban park in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, Turkey; it is adjacent to and on the grounds of the Topkapı Palace. The south entrance of the park sports one of the larger gates of the palace. It is the oldest and one of the most expansive public parks in Istanbul.

The Basketmakers' Kiosk (Turkish: Sepetçiler Köşkü), also known as Sepetçiler Palace (Sepetçiler Kasrı), named after the Sepetçi Roma (basketmakers), is a former Ottoman pleasure palace located on the southern shore of Golden Horn's mouth at Sarayburnu in the neighborhood of Sirkeci in Istanbul, Turkey.

Hagia Irene (Greek: Αγία Ειρήνη) or Hagia Eirene (Medieval Greek: Ἁγία Εἰρήνη Greek pronunciation: [aˈʝia iˈrini], "Holy Peace", Turkish: Aya İrini), sometimes known also as Saint Irene, is an Eastern Orthodox church located in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. It is one of the few churches in Istanbul that has not been converted into a mosque, as it was used as an arsenal for storing weapons until the 19th century. The Hagia Irene today operates as a museum and concert hall.

Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam (Turkish: İstanbul İslam Bilim ve Teknoloji Tarihi Müzesi) is located in the former Imperial Stables Building in Gülhane Park. The museum was opened on 25 May 2008 and displays replicas of 9th and 16th century scientific instruments of Muslim scholars. The models were all made at the Institute for the History of Arab-Islamic Sciences of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt from descriptions and drawings in contemporary texts - very few original items are present. Many items are "completely imagined", while others are based on drawings of similar-looking devices in manuscripts, but it is unknown if these were ever built, or intended to be built.

The Prosphorion Harbour (Greek: Προσφόριον) was a harbour in the city of Constantinople, active from the time when the city was still the Greek colony of Byzantium (657 BC – 324 AD), until the eve of the first millennium. Gradually enlarged, it was the first port to be built in the area of the future Constantinople.