Sultan Abdulhamid II established Yıldız Porcelain Factory in 1890 at the suggestion of the French ambassador Paul Cambon, to provide a ready supply of fancy...

An absolutely magical attraction, which recreates 105 of Turkey's most famous sights in miniature. The models range from a palm-sized Leander's Tower to a...

Consisting of three huge towers joined by crenellated defensive walls, the fortress was raised in a hurry as part of Mehmet II's master plan to capture...

Originally an ancient sanctuary of Artemis, the first church was built over the 'life-giving spring' here in the early Byzantine era. Destroyed and rebuilt...

This unrestored Byzantine reservoir is what the more famous Yerebatan Sarnıçı would have looked like before it was cleaned up for tourists.

Mahmut II (1808-39) was the sultan who crushed the Janissaries. He must have been a formidable force in the harem, too, for he produced 15 sons and 12...