Topkapı Palace Museum - First Courtyard, Turkey's tourist paradise, Istanbul. (4k-60fps)

03:51 The Gate of Salutation, entrance to the Second courtyard of Topkapı Palace.
04:58 Many groups tour the First Courtyard accompanied by guides.
06:26 souvenir shop
14:24 The Imperial Gate is the main entrance into the First Courtyard.
15:22 The Byzantine church of Hagia Irene
16:50 The Mint of the Ottoman Empire is right in front of you
Harem : • Topkapı Palace Museum ...
Surrounded by high walls, the First Courtyard functioned as an outer precinct or park and is the largest of all the courtyards of the palace. The steep slopes leading towards the sea had already been terraced under Byzantine rule. Some of the historical structures of the First Courtyard no longer exist. The structures that remain are the former Imperial Mint (Darphane-i Âmire, constructed in 1727), the church of Hagia Irene and various fountains. The Byzantine church of Hagia Irene was used by the Ottomans as a storehouse and imperial armoury.
This courtyard was also known as the Court of the Janissaries or the Parade Court. Court officials and janissaries would line the path dressed in their best garb. Visitors entering the palace would follow the path towards the Gate of Salutation and the Second Courtyard of the palace.
The large Gate of Salutation, also known as the Middle Gate, leads into the palace and the Second Courtyard. This crenellated gate has two large, pointed octagonal towers. Its date of construction is uncertain; the architecture of the towers appears to be of Byzantine influence. An inscription at the door dates this gate to at least 1542. The gate is richly decorated with religious inscriptions and monograms of sultans. Passage through the gate was tightly controlled and all visitors had to dismount, since only the sultan was allowed to enter the gate on horseback.
This was also a Byzantine tradition taken from the Chalke Gate of the Great Palace.The Fountain of the Executioner is where the executioner purportedly washed his hands and sword after a decapitation, though there is disagreement about whether the fountain was actually used for this purpose. It is located on the right side when facing the Gate of Salutation from the First Courtyard.
The main street leading to the palace is the Byzantine processional Mese avenue, known today as Divan Yolu (Council Street). This street was used for imperial processions during the Byzantine and Ottoman era. It leads directly to the Hagia Sophia and turns northwest towards the palace square to the Fountain of Ahmed III.

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A great tour, we are waiting for such content to come.👍🙌