Topkapi Palace, built on an area of 700,000 square meters in 1478 by Mehmed the Conqueror after the conquest of Istanbul, is one of the iconic buildings of Istanbul. For nearly four hundred years, until the 31st Ottoman sultan Sultan Abdülmecid, it was the administrative, educational and cultural center of the empire and the residence of the sultans.

After the founding of the Republic of Turkey, Topkapı Palace became a museum in 1924 and is one of the largest museum-palaces in the world with its structures, architecture, collections and approximately 300,000 documents. The palace has four very large courtyards and three monumental gates opening to these courtyards. Within the courtyards are many administrative and educational buildings and the Harem, the living quarters of the sultans and their families. These mansions and mansions, which were built in different architectural styles over four centuries according to the tastes of different sultans, are today the spaces where the museum's extensive palace collections consisting of thousands of pieces are exhibited. The museum, which sheds light on the Ottoman period with a very rich treasury as well as clocks, weapons, sultans' costumes, sacred relics and manuscripts, is among the most favorite and desired places to see by visitors to Istanbul.

The mosque was built in honour of the grand vizier Rüstem Pasha, by the famous architect Sinan on order of Rüstem’s wife Princess Mihrimah. The princess was the daugter of Süleyman the Magnificent and the the richest woman in the world. She wanted to commemorate Rüstem Pasha with the most beautiful interior design of the time. There is no other building in Istanbul where you can see so many beautiful tiles together. Rüstem Paşa Mosque has the most beautiful and delicate examples of classical Iznik tiles dating back to the 16th century. At the time it was built, it was known as the most ornate mosque of the Ottoman Empire. In 2007, it was named the most beautiful historical mosque in Europe by Newsweek Magazine.

Be prepared to be mesmerized by the beauty.

Located at a strategic point between East and West, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, Istanbul was one of the most vibrant trade centers both in the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Istanbul, as a port city, was on transit trade routesand there were many inns and bazaars which allowed the storage and sale of products arriving by ships. The area where the Egyptian Bazaar is located has been a busy hub and market area since the Byzantine period. In the Byzantine period, there was a spice bazaar called Makron Envalos in approximately the same place as the Egyptian Bazaar.

The Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar is one of the oldest markets in Istanbul. It was built in 1664 as an extension of the New Mosque and adjacent to it, intending to sustain it economically. The bazaar, which was started to meet the expenses of the New Mosque, is today the capital of the spice trade… When it was first opened, the bazaar was known as the New Bazaar but as it was built with the taxes collected from Cairo, the name changed to the Egyptian Bazaar over time. Also, the goods and especially the spices that came from Egypt were sold here.

Egyptian Bazaar offers a wide range and high quality of spices, dried fruits, nuts and teas, caviar,

Turkish delight as well as oils and essences and definitely best market to buy some…