Main Istanbul Highlights:
Explore the decadent four courts of Topkapi Palace, perched atop the narrow peninsula of Seraglio Point overlooks the Marmara Sea and Golden Horn and is one of the grandest and most lavish palaces of the Ottoman Sultans over the last 500 years. The secret life and extravagant decor of the Harem, the luxurious satin gowns, gold and diamond-laden treasury and armory section are testimony to the great throne of power once seated here.
One of the greatest examples of surviving Byzantine architecture is the Hagia Sophia Museum with colossal dome atop colored marble columns making awesome viewing, not least the upper balconies lined with expansive glittering gold mosaics. In its day it was world renowned for its record as the largest church for 1000 years. Converted to a mosque by the Sultan at the neighboring Topkapi Palace, it has a suitably grand royal entrance attached.
