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| A small, Byzantine Christian church, now a museum, on the grounds of the Topkapi Palace. Lonely Planet provides the following information: "On your left is Aya İrini, also known as Haghia Eirene
or the Church of the Divine Peace. There was a Christian church here
from earliest times and, before that, a pagan temple. The early church
was replaced by the present one, commissioned by Justinian in the 540s.
It is almost exactly as old as its close neighbour, Aya Sofya. When
Mehmet the Conqueror began building his palace, the church was within
the grounds and was most fortunately retained." Unfortunately we did not have tickets to go inside the church. |
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| This is the elegant entrance to the Palace. The Lonely Planet guides notes: "Mehmet the Conqueror built the first stage of the palace shortly after
the Conquest in 1453, and lived here until his death in 1481. Subsequent
sultans lived in this rarefied environment until the 19th century". |
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| The porticos around the main courtyard. |
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| More beautiful metalwork and mosaics. |
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| The colors come form the colors in the marble panels. |
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| A view into the Sultan's bedchamber. |
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| In the courtyard--tourists from all over the world visit. |
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| We had a lovely lunch at a restaurant on the palace grounds. |
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| Traditional Turkish spices are placed on the table. |
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| A lovely dome inside the Treasury. |
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| We stopped for a visit at the Istanbul Modern Art Museum. |
Another exhibit
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| In the ground floor there is an amazing exhibit of books hanging from wires! |
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