Istanbul - Hagia Eirene

On the southwest side of the courtyard of the Archeological museum in Istanbul stands the reddish domed church of Hagia Eirene (Divine Peace), one of the best-preserved Early Byzantine buildings in Istanbul, now a museum (Aya Irini Müzesi). In 381 it was the meeting-place of the Second Ecumenical Council. During the Turkish period it became an arsenal, and more recently houses an artillery museum.

On the north side of the Outer Court (to the right, the Executioner's Fountain, in front of which dignitaries who had fallen from favor were executed) is the Ort Kapi (Middle Gate; 1524), the entrance to the Inner Seraglio, the palace-city of the Sultans, which consists of a series of buildings, large and small, laid out round three courtyards. The first of the inner courtyards, the Court of the Divan, surrounded by colonnades, is the largest (150m/164yds long) and most impressive. On the right-hand side are the palace kitchens, topped by 20 dome-like chimneys. With their 24 fireplaces, the kitchens were said to serve up to 20,000 meals a day.