ISTANBUL - Topkapı Palace, affiliated to the Directorate of National Palaces, was opened to visitors at night for the first time since 1924, when it started operating as a museum.
İlhan Kocaman, Head of Topkapı Palace Department, said in a statement to press members that a historical day was experienced at Topkapı Palace with the night tour.
Stating that Topkapı Palace will be open to night visitors on Saturday evenings during the summer period, Kocaman said, "We have prepared a project to enable our visitors to visit both open and closed areas. Topkapı Palace is realizing such a project for the first time in its history. As of today, we have started night tours in order to enable them to visit all of our museum."
Kocaman stated that Topkapı Palace was home to the Ottoman Empire for more than 400 years and said, "Whether it was the harem or the selamlık section, everyone was especially curious about how life here was at night. We realized the project in order to satisfy that curiosity."
- Topkapı Palace will be open every Saturday between 21.00-23.00
Stating that Topkapı Palace can be visited every Saturday between 21.00-23.00, Kocaman said that all parts of the palace will be kept open for two hours and the tours will be organized between these hours.