Topkapi Palace was residence to all the Ottoman sultans until the rule of Abdulmecid I (1839-1860), a period of almost four centuries. The order for the building of the Topkapi Palace on the Seraglio Point both Marmara and Bosphorus was given by Mehmed the Conquerer after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453. 

The site was then an very old olive grove. The last form of the original palace covered an area 700 square metres, and was surrounded by fortified walls 1,400 metres in length.  The walls were cut by several gates and a number of small angled gates among them. Following the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror, the palace grew gradually to form a city like compound of structures and annexes, including a seashore palace known as the Topkapi shore palace, as it was located close to the cannon gate of the ancient walls of Istanbul. When the shore palace was burned down in 1863, it lent its name to the immense compound we now know as Topkapi Palace.

The central portal, the Bab-i Humayun, is situated next to the mosque of Haghia Sophia, and this led a series of four courts surrounded by a variety of buildings. The courts, halls, pavilions, chambers and other parts can be viewed at the floor plan of Topkapi Palace.