Considering that once, a vast portion of the world, from Baghdad to Budapest and from Cairo to Athens was ruled from this palace, Topkapi is surprisingly modest and unremarkable. It is neither lavishly-decorated, marvellously-architected like European castles such as Versailles or Neuschwanstein, nor it has the magical interiors of, let’s say Safavid palaces in Isfahan.

However, something it has in abundance: An unrivalled strategic location which grants it a heavenly view from which the whole Bosporus is under your feet.
Topkapi Palace, Istanbul