Istanbul Things to Do

translation. Whereas we understand it to mean a store of readily available concubines, it actually meant ‘forbidden’ or ‘private’, and was applied to the part of a house or palace closed to outsiders. The Topkapi Palace in Istanbul has the largest surviving harem in the world.

There are few better combinations of time and place than April in Istanbul. The evening air still has an edge, but days are usually bright and mild with the sunlight glinting off the Golden Horn. Perfect weather for exploring the city, in other words.