What I did in Istanbul on the second day

Today we went to Topkapi Palace. The day was sunny, and the crowds were massive.

The Divan where the Councils of State met. And the divans they must have sat on for their deliberations.

The entrance to the Harem through the Courtyard of the Black Eunuchs

By way of the decorative path

And tile lined walls.

The Sultan's living quarters were in the Harem. Here in the Privy Chamber, a fountain
made enough noise to  prevent eavesdropping on conversations.

The Valide, the Sultan's mother, was the most powerful woman in the Harem,
 and her apartment was sumptuously decorated including the dome in her Salon.

The view toward the water would be spectacular through the grille except for the plastic sheeting
currently covering an area under renovation

The Harem is said to have hundreds of rooms and miles of corridors.

And the words of the Qur'an are always on hand

Most of Topkapi is made up of separate pavilions, or kiosks.
 This is the Sultan's Library.

An especially lovely ceiling decoration in the Library

Looking at Asia across the Bosphorus. Topkapi is located at the point of land
where the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn join at the Marmara Sea.

Looking up the Golden Horn

After leaving Topkapi, we searched for the Mosaic Museum
 and ambled through an old neighbourhood of wooden houses.

A çesme, the public water source for a neighbourhood  

Superb 6th century mosaic floor discovered during 1930s excavations of the Great Palace of Byzantium. 

The floor is housed under a canopy roof that stretches on and on.
They have been restored in recent years to protect them.

And finally, Bob's favourite Green Man, Byzantine style.