The fourth courtyard of Topkapi is completely unlike those we saw earlier. It is more of a small garden offering an excellent view of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. It is not hard to guess that this place was once used not only to delight the sultan's eyes, but also for strategic purposes – from here all the waterways of Istanbul could be seen perfectly.
On the left side of the courtyard is the Halic Terrace; when you step onto it, you will see an excellent panorama of Eminonu Square, the Galata Bridge, and the northern part of the city. Also pay attention to the buildings surrounding the terrace. On one side of it is the Baghdad Palace, built in 1639 in honor of the capture of Baghdad, and on the other side is the Circumcision Pavilion. Behind it is the Yerevan Palace, whose construction commemorated the conquest of Yerevan in 1635.
If you walk to the opposite part of the fourth courtyard, a прекрасный view of the Sea of Marmara will open up before you. Descending from there down the path, you can reach the Mecidiye Palace. This is one of the later buildings of Topkapi, erected by order of Sultan Abdulmejid I in 1840. Today it houses the refined Konyali restaurant, which offers an equally breathtaking view of the Bosphorus, the Asian side of Istanbul, and the Sea of Marmara.
