Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: Who built the Topkapi palace?
Construction began in 1459, ordered by Mehmed the Conqueror, six years after the conquest of Constantinople. Topkapı was originally called the "New Palace" (Yeni Saray or Saray-ı Cedîd-i Âmire) to distinguish it from the Old Palace in Beyazıt Square. It was given the name Topkapı, meaning Cannon Gate, in the 19th century.[5] The complex was expanded over the centuries, with major renovations after the 1509 earthquake and the 1665 fire. The palace complex consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. Female members of the Sultan's family lived in the harem, and leading state officials, including the Grand vizier, held meetings in the Imperial Council building.
As his title implies, the Kapi Agha was in charge of the Gate of Felicity that separated the Outer Court ("Birûn"), where state affairs were conducted, from the Inner Court ("Enderûn") and the Sultan's private apartments in the Topkapi Palace. The Agha occupied an office to the right of the gate and was responsible for controlling entrance to the Inner Court and for transmitting the Sultan's orders to his officials, rendering him, in the words of the Ottomanist Halil İnalcık "the sole mediator between the Sultan and the world outside the Palace". Among the duties of the Kapi Agha and his white eunuchs was also the running of the Palace School for the pages of the palace, whose graduates then went on to provide the administrative elite of the Empire. The "Mosque of the Aghas" ("Ağalar Camii") in the Topkapi Palace was built for use by the Kapi Agha and his eunuchs.
Meanwhile, in Tinos (modern day Greece) Anastasia (also referred as Nasya), is a 13-year old Greek girl who lives an idyllic life with her father Enzo, her mother, and her younger sister. Previously, she was painted with a lamb in her hands. This portrait Is delivered to Safiye Sultan, who presents it as a gift to her grandson Sultan Ahmed I. Due to the impression made on him, Safiye Sultan orders the girl to be brought to Topkapi Palace. On the road to Istanbul, Anastasia spots Iskander, a young trainee in the Janissary cadet school, run by Zülfikar Ağa, who vows to Anastasia that he will return her to her family and her homeland. Once they arrive at Topkapi, Cennet Hatun begins lecturing Anastasia on palace etiquette and courtesy. But Anastasia swore she would return to her homeland at all costs. While wandering the palace, she discovers a mysterious passageway leading to a secret garden, and there she first sees Sultan Ahmed. Ahmed introduces himself with a different name, and soon Anastasia starts having feelings for Ahmed. The other harem concubines, envious of Anastasia's beauty, start telling false tales to Anastasia, making her believe the sultan eats young girls' hearts. Anyhow, Anastasia is later taken to the sultan, who is bitten in his fist by Anastasia. But as soon as she looks up and discovers who he is, she is no longer afraid anymore. Meanwhile, Halime Sultan flees along with her children, Dilruba and Mustafa, so as to save the latter from execution and eventually have him ascending to the throne. They are caught though and Mustafa is spared at the very last moment.
Turhan Can, Topkapi Palace, Orient Turistik Yayinlar Ve Hizmetler Ltd., Istanbul, 1994; Turner, J. (ed.) - Grove Dictionary of Art - Oxford University Press, USA; New edition (January 2, 1996); ISBN0-19-517068-7 Topkapi Palace Museum. The Imperial Treasury. MAS Publications. 2001. ISBN975-7710-04-0 Ahmet Ertuğ. Topkapi: The Palace of Felicity. Ertug & Kokabiyik. 1989. ASIN B0006F4CM6 Tahsin Oz. Topkapi Saray Museum 50 Masterpieces. Turkish Press. ASIN B000VHIQCG J. M. Rogers. The Topkapi Saray Museum. Architecture; the Harem and other buildings. New York Graphic Society. 1988. ASIN B000MKDDF2 Hulya Tezcan, J. M. Rogers. The Topkapi Saray Museum: Textiles. Bulfinch Press. 1986. ISBN978-0-8212-1634-7 J. M. Rogers (Author), Cengiz Koseoglu. Topkapi Saray Museum. Bulfinch Press. 1988. ISBN978-0-8212-1672-9 Filiz Pcafgman (Author), J. M. Rogers. The Topkapi Saray Museum: Manuscripts. Bulfinch Press. 1986. ISBN978-0-8212-1633-0 Regina Krahl (Author), Nurdan Erbahar (Author), John Ayers (Author). Chinese Ceramics in Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul: A Complete Catalogue. Sotheby Parke Bernet Publications. 1986. ISBN978-0-85667-184-5 Zeynep M. Durukan. The Harem of the Topkapi Palace. Hilal Matbaacilik Koll. 1973. ASIN B000OLCZPI Esin Atil. Suleymanname: The Illustrated History of Suleyman the Magnificent. Harry N Abrams. 1986. ISBN978-0-8109-1505-3 Fanny Davis. Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul. 1970. ASIN B000NP64Z2 Turhan Can. Topkapi Palace. Orient Touristic Publishing Service. 1997. ASIN B000JERAEQ Sabahattin Turkoglu. The Topkapi Palace. NET. 1989. ISBN978-975-479-074-0 Ilhan Aksit. Topkapi Palace. Istanbul. 1994. ASIN B000MPGBGK Ergun, Nilgün, and Özge İskender. 2003. Gardens of the Topkapi Palace: An example of Turkish garden art. Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, vol.23, no.i: 57-71. Ilber Ortaylı. Topkapi Palace. Tughra Books. Somerset, New Jersey (2008). ISBN978-1-59784-141-2 İlhan Akşit. The Mystery of the Ottoman Harem. Akşit Kültür Turizm Yayınları. ISBN975-7039-26-8
According to an identifying document at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Moses's staff would supposedly be on display today at the Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkey. The Topkapi Palace holds other reputedly holy relics, most notably those attributed to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. (Such as his bow, his sword, his footprint, and even a tooth.) Topkapı Palace was officially designated a museum in 1924, and the holy relics were placed on public view on 31 August 1962. It is said that Sultan Selim I (1512–1520) brought the holy relics to Topkapi Palace after conquering Egypt in 1517.
After the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the hostel of the combat engineers () was placed near the church, and the church was abandoned. Afterwards, like the nearby Church of St. John at "Dihippion", the ground floor of the building was used to house the wild animals (lions - whence its Turkish name, "Arslan hane" - tigers, elephants, etc.) intended for the court of the Sultan in the nearby Topkapi Palace. At the same time, the upper floor had its windows walled and was used to lodge the fresco painters and miniaturists active in the Sultan's Palace (). In 1741 a fire in the Hagia Sophia neighborhood damaged the building, as well as the nearby Haseki Hürrem Sultan Bath. In 1802 the upper floor caught fire, and in 1804 the building was demolished. There were numerous fires in the following years in the new edifices built on the site, until in 1846-48 the Swiss Italian architect Gaspare Fossati built the main seat of the new Istanbul University on the same site.
Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri) visits Istanbul, where she sees a traveling fair featuring replicas of treasures from the Topkapı Palace. Next she cases the Topkapi, fascinated by the emerald-encrusted dagger of Sultan Mahmud I. Leaving Turkey, she recruits her ex-lover, Swiss master-criminal Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell), to plan a theft of the dagger. They engage Cedric Page (Robert Morley), master of all things mechanical; Giulio, "The Human Fly" (Gilles Ségal), a mute acrobat; and the burly Hans (Jess Hahn), who will provide the muscle needed for the job.
After the conquest of Istanbul by Mehmed the Conqueror at 1453, construction of the Topkapı Palace was started in the year 1460 and completed in 1478. The palace was built upon a 700,000 square meter area on an Eastern Roman Acropolis located on the Istanbul Peninsula between the Sea of Marmara, Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. Topkapı Palace was the administrative, educational, and art center of the Empire for nearly four hundred years from Mehmed the Conqueror until Sultan Abdulmecid who was the thirty-first Sultan. Although Topkapi Palace was abandoned by the Ottoman Dynasty by moving to the Dolmabahçe Palace in the middle of the 19th century, Topkapı Palace retained its importance.
Finally, Captain Camus and the other French soldiers had been liberated, while the diamond remained in the Topkapi Palace, in possession of Sultan Selim III and his successors.
Later Ottoman tradition held that it was Mehmed II () who abandoned the practice of presiding over the council in person, instead relegating this responsibility to the Grand Vizier, "ipso facto" defining the latter as a distinct office from the other viziers. Mehmed II's law-code states that the Sultan would observe Council sessions behind a screen, a practice which lasted until the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent (), who ceased to attend Council meetings altogether. Nevertheless Mehmed II's successor, Bayezid II () is still recorded as openly chairing sessions of the Council in person, although by this time, these occasions were involved in elaborate ceremonial, in stark contrast to the informality of such audiences before Mehmed II. 
After Edirne became the Ottoman capital in the late 14th century, the Council met at the palace there or anywhere the Sultan currently resided. Following the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Council met initially at the Old Palace (Eski Saray), moving to the Topkapi Palace after its construction in the 1470s. There the Council had a dedicated building ("divanhane") in the Second Courtyard. The present building was built in the early reign of Süleyman the Magnificent by Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, and renovated in 1792 and 1819. The council chamber proper was known as "kubbealtı" ("under the dome"). During campaigns, the Council met at the Grand Vizier's tent, which was always pitched near the Sultan's own. 
Fanny Davis. Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul. 1970. ASIN B000NP64Z2
Following the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, Topkapı was transformed into a museum by a government decree dated April 3, 1924. The Topkapı Palace Museum is administered by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The palace complex has hundreds of rooms and chambers, but only the most important are accessible to the public today, including the Ottoman imperial harem and the treasury, called hazine where the Spoonmaker's Diamond and Topkapi Dagger are on display. The museum collection also includes Ottoman clothing, weapons, armor, miniatures, religious relics, and illuminated manuscripts like the Topkapi manuscript. The complex is guarded by officials of the ministry as well as armed guards of the Turkish military. Topkapı Palace is part the Historic Areas of Istanbul, a group of sites in Istanbul that were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.[6]
Many of the conflicting versions about the origin of the "Spoonmaker's Diamond", a major treasure of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, link it with Ali Pasha – though their historical authenticity is doubtful. 
The Imperial Harem occupied one of the large sections of the private apartments of the sultan at the Topkapi Palace which encompassed more than 400 rooms. After 1853, an equally lavish harem quarter was occupied at the new imperial palace at Dolmabahçe.
The film was shot on location in Istanbul, Turkey, at such historic landmarks as Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Yildiz Palace and the Istanbul Archaeology Museums.
Lara is a district of Antalya city, Turkey. Lara is a balneoclimatic and balneoclimateric location bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It is home to many luxury themed hotels, mainly at the popular Lara Beach area which includes the Lara, Kundu, Aksu and Muratpaşa municipalities of Antalya province. Most of the hotels are replicas of famous places around the world, luxury design hotels and theme hotels (for example Topkapi Palace, Venice Palace, Kremlin Palace, Titanic Beach Lara, Concorde De Luxe Resort) with All inclusive concept.
In the 18th century, a new great Italian-styled office building was built just west of Topkapi Palace area, on the other side of Alemdar Caddesi street. This became the location of the Grand Vizier and many ministries. Thereafter, this building, and the monumental gate leading to its courtyards, became known as the Sublime Porte ("Bab-ı Ali"); colloquially it was also known as the Gate of the Page ("paşa kapusu"). The building was badly damaged by fire in 1911. Today, the buildings house the provincial Governor of Istanbul.
The Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul holds a large collection of Ottoman kaftans and textiles.
One of the finest and earliest examples of the type was the weapon made for Suleiman the Magnificent, who ruled over the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566. This specimen now lies in the treasury of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul and is of particular interest since it is not only dated 1526/7, but also has the name of the artist who made it, Ahmed Tekelü, on the back of the blade. The hilt is of ivory overlaid with gold delicately carved with cloud bands and scrolls.
For many years, he taught at the Topkapi Palace. His students included many calligraphers who went on to have notable careers including: Nazif Bey, Huhiso Efendi, Puza Efendi, Okyay Necmeddin and Kâmil Akdik.
The Topkapi manuscript is an early manuscript of the Quran dated to the early 8th century. This manuscript is kept in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey. It was wrongly attributed to Uthman Ibn Affan (d. 656), but judging from its illumination, the Topkapi manuscript does not date from the period (mid 7th century) when the copies of the Caliph Uthman were written.
After her death her body was taken from Topkapi to the Old Palace (Eski Sarayı) and then buried in the mausoleum of her husband Ahmed I.
Also known by the equivalent Persian title "tabardar", the "baltadji" corps dates to the early days of the Ottoman Empire: recruited from the "devshirme", they served as sappers and pioneers of the Ottoman army. Already in the early 15th century, however, a number were posted as guards in the Sultan's palace at Edirne. After the Fall of Constantinople and the establishment of various palaces in the new capital, separate companies of "baltadjis" were created for service in each palace: the Old Palace (Eski Saray), the New Palace or Topkapi Palace, the Galata Palace, and the Palace of Ibrahim Pasha.
This manuscript is kept in the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey. It is attributed to Uthman Ibn Affan (d. 656) Similar illuminations can be found in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and other Umayyad monuments. The size of this manuscript is 41 cm x 46 cm. It contains more than 99% of the text of the Qur'an. With only two pages (23 verses) lacking, this manuscript is the closest to the complete text of the Quran. Mehmed Ali Pasha, Governor of Egypt, sent this manuscript to the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II as a gift in the 19th century (CE).
Günal owns ten 5-star hotels, the WoW (World of Wonders) Kremlin Palace and the WoW Topkapi Palace, in Antalya, are "architecturally exact replicas" of the Kremlin and Topkapi palaces.