In Istanbul, the remnants of the Ottoman Empire are everywhere. This is very readily apparent if you go to visit the Sultan’s Palace Museum in downtown Istanbul. There, they’ve opened most of the palace grounds and some of the interior buildings to give you a sense of what it was like to be king in Istanbul. There are also quite a few surprising relics stored inside.

This is the main gate where tourists enter. When we went there was a huge line!
I believe that this marks the place that the flag of Islam was first raised in Istanbul.
Above is the view of the Bosphorous and the Golden Horn from the Palace. It’s a beautiful spot! And they decorated the insides to match, with elaborate mosaics of tile, gold, and mother-of-pearl:
After we had explored the main grounds, we went into the Harem – the place where the Sultan’s favorite ladies would hang out. Here we saw one of the royal bedchambers:
and a room overlooking one of the outdoor baths:
We also saw a number of things inside that are not pictured, since photographs were disallowed. The treasury was open that day, so we got to see more jewels (and bigger) than I’ve ever seen in my life, including chicken-egg sized emeralds, and even bigger diamonds. Most were polished rather than cut so it gave them an interesting rounded shape and different glow than modern gemstones. The most surprising things, though, were the ancient relics of Islam (and Judaism/Christianity). For example, the Staff of Moses, with which he struck water from a stone in the desert, and turned the Nile to blood, is held in the palace, next to the arm bones of John the Baptist! Of course they also had various beard hairs of the Prophet Mohammed encased in resin for all to see. If you go to Istanbul, make sure to take a look as it contains quite a variety of religious artifacts.
Of course afterwards we were famished so we stopped at a local Baklava shop! Yippee!