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The grandest of all is Yerebatan Saray Sarniçi, called the Sunken Palace Cistern because of its size (70 x 140 meters, or 2.4 acres), its capacity (80,000 cubic meters--over 21 million US gallons) and its 336 marble columns.

Remember the scene in the old James Bond movie From Russia With Love when Bond is rowing in a small boat through a forest of marble columns? That scene was filmed in Yerebatan.

Walkways and atmospheric lighting were installed during the 1990s so you can see all its curious corners. There's even a little cafe for drinks and snacks.

Yerebatan is in Sultanahmet Square, at the northeastern end of the Hippodrome, just off Divan Yolu, and across the street from Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia).

Built in the 18th century for an extraordinary Ottoman princes, Esma Sultan, as her personal residence, this magnificent ruin in the quaintly colorful Bosphorus neighborhood of Ortaköy .

It is located on the promontory of the historical peninsula in İstanbul which overlooks both the Marmara Sea and the Bosphorus. The walls enclosing the palace grounds, the main gate on the land side and the first buildings were constructed during the time of Fatih Sultan Mehmet (the Conqueror) (1451 - 81). The palace has taken its present layout with the addition of new structures in the later centuries. Topkapı Palace was the official residence of the Ottoman Sultans, starting with Fatih Sultan Mehmet until 1856, when Abdülmecid moved to the Dolmabahçe palace, functioned as the administrative center of the state. The Enderun section also gained importance as a school.

**pic. taken from ministry of tourism webpage.

The harem section of Topkapi Palace was carefully situated so that it could not be seen from the state apartments and the courtyards where public affairs were conducted. Tursun Bey, a chronicler at the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror wrote, 'If sems [the sun] had not been a word which in Persian takes the feminine article, even the sun would not be admitted to the harem.' Known in other eastern countries as perde (purdah), zenâne or endrûnr, the royal harem at the Ottoman Palace was known as the Dâr-üs-saâde, or Place of Felicity, while the section of the palace known as the Imperial Harem encompassed both the harem proper, the state apartments of the sultans, the quarters of his household and the pavilions in the fourth courtyard.

The Treasury of the Museum of Topkapi Palace is considered one of the most famous treasuries in the world.

Various stories are told about the Soonmarker's Diamond According to one tale, a poor fisherman in Istanbul near Yenikapi was wandering idly, empty-handed along the shore when he found a shiny stone among the litter, which he turned over one over not knowing what it was. After carrying it about in his pocket for a few days, he stopped by the jewelers Market, showing it to the first jeweler he encountered. The jeweler took a casual glance at the stone and appeared disinterested, saying "It's a piece of glass, take it away if you like, or if you like I'll give you three spoons. You brought it all the way here, at least let it be worth your trouble." What was the poor fisherman to do with this piece of glass? What's more the jeweler had felt sorry for him and was giving three spoons. He said okay and took the spoons, leaving in their place an enormous treasure. It is for this reason they say that the diamond's name became the "Spoonmaker's Diamond" According to another tale, the person finding the diamond was a spoonmaker, or the diamond was given this name because it resembled the bowl of a spoon. Even today it is not known how this diamond came to the Ottoman Palace, who it was obtained from or how.

This section of the palace is filled with the relics of the Prophet Mohammed brought here by Yavuz Sultan Selim I, upon the conquest of Egypt in 1517. The complex consist of a group of domed rooms. The walls of the double domed entry room are decorated with 16th century Iznik tiles. In addition to the tiles, the wood work of the doors and the display windows, and the central wishing pool give the area a special charm. This section’s central case exhibits the Prophet’s bamboo bow, and swords of the first four Caliphs and other religious leaders.

The Blue Mosque was founded by Sultan Ahmet I. He ordered Architect Mehmed Aga to begin constuction in 1609 and the whole complex was completed in 1616. The location of the mosque is just opposite of the splendid Church of Hagia Sophia as it is trying to compete with it. That is actually true because Architect Mehmed wanted to construct a bigger dome then Hagia Sophia's but he could not succeed. Instead, he made the mosque splendid by the perfect proportion of domes and semidomes as well as the splendid minarets. There is an interesting story of the mosque; according to it, Sultan Ahmet I wanted to have a minaret made of gold which is "altin" in Turkish. The architect misunderstood him as "alti" which means "six" in English. However, when the architect was shivering as "am I going to be beheaded?", the Sultan Ahmed I liked the minarets so much. Prior to that time, no sultan had a mosque with 6 minarets.