Istanbul - Discover Turkey: Experience the Best of Turkey - page 154

decorated with gold, silver, rubies, emeralds, jade, pearls and diamonds. The most famous is the Topkapı Dagger. Be
sure to admire the Bosphorus views from the terrace.
Pleasure pavilions occupy the Fourth Court , including the Mecidiye Köşkü. Up the stairs at the end of the
nearby Tulip Garden is the Marble Terrace.

NEED TO KNOW
Offline map

Topkapı Sarayı; www.topkapisarayi.gov.tr ; Babıhümayun Caddesi; palace " 25, Harem " 15; 9am-6pm
Wed-Mon mid-Apr-Sep, to 4pm Oct-mid-Apr, Harem closes 4.30pm Apr-Oct, 3.30pm Nov-Mar;
Sultanahmet

RÜSTEM PAŞA MOSQUE
Offline map Google map
(Rüstem Paşa Camii; Hasırcılar Caddesi, Rüstem Paşa; Eminönü) Nestled in the Tahtakale shop-
ping district, this diminutive mosque is a gem. It dates from 1560, and was designed by
Mimar Sinan for Rüstem Paşa, son-in-law and grand vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent.
A showpiece of the best Ottoman architecture and tilework, it is thought to have been the
prototype for Sinan's greatest work, the Selimiye in Edirne.
The mosque is not at street level. There's a set of stairs on Hasırcılar Caddesi and an-
other on the small street running right (north) off Hasırcılar Caddesi towards the Golden
Horn. The preponderance of tiles was Rüstem Paşa's way of signalling his wealth and in-
fluence, İznik tiles being particularly expensive and desirable.

| Mosque

SPICE BAZAAR
Offline map Google map
(Mısır Çarşısı, Egyptian Market; 8am-6pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sun; Eminönü) Vividly coloured
spices are displayed alongside jewel-like lokum (Turkish delight) at this Ottoman-era mar-
ketplace, providing eye candy for the thousands of tourists and locals who make their way
here every day. Stalls also sell dried herbs, caviar, nuts, honey in the comb, dried fruits
and pestil (fruit pressed into sheets and dried). The well-preserved building is home to one
of the city's oldest restaurants, Pandeli Offline map Google map ( www.pandeli.com.tr ; Spice
Bazaar, Eminönü; noon-4pm Mon-Sat; Eminönü) . Have a tea or coffee here after the tour-
ist crush at lunchtime to see its richly decorated salons. Constructed in the 1660s, in its
heyday the bazaar was the last stop for the camel caravans that travelled the Silk Routes
from China, India and Persia.

| Market