Tekfur Sarayı

Istanbul


Though only a shell these days, the remnants of this Byzantine palace give a good idea of how it would have looked in its heyday. Built in the late 13th or early 14th century, the large three-storied structure was an annexe of the nearby imperial Palace of Blachernae, of which few traces exist today.

The building's later uses were not so regal: after the Conquest it functioned in turn as a menagerie for exotic wild animals, a brothel, a poorhouse for destitute Jews, a pottery and finally a car park.

The Museum Pass İstanbul is not valid here.


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