İstanbul · Fatih · Turkey

Tekfur Sarayı

hidden gem

Palace of the Porphyrogenitus

Historicgoogle verified

~30 min

easy

8/10

contemplative

A local would say...

The last surviving Byzantine palace — polychrome brick patterns hidden in the city walls

The last surviving fragment of the Byzantine imperial palaces — a three-storey stone and brick ruin built into the Theodosian walls near Edirnekapı. Recently restored and opened as a museum, its elaborate polychrome facade of red brick and white marble is unlike anything else in Istanbul. Murat Belge calls it one of the city's most underappreciated landmarks.