Topkapı Palace

The Topkapı Palace was a palace in Constantinople, the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans. Sultans resided in the palace for approximately four centuries (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign of the Ottoman Empire.

Idealization and construction
In the dwindling years of the Byzantine Empire, many of the Imperial palaces lay in ruins, shattered by centuries of fighting and economic collapse. Following the Ottoman conquest, Sultan Mehmed II envisioned a palace at a strategically secure spot atop First Hill, the very tip of the peninsula.

Construction on the Sultan’s new palace, then called Yeni Sarayi (New Palace), initially began in 1459, and concluded nearly a decade later, although every subsequent Sultan would continue to add to the overall complex. However, towards the end of his reign, Bayezid II relocated his throne to the original Ottoman capital of Edirne(then Adrianople).

Attack on Prince Suleiman
"We learned that the Byzantines are planning to infiltrate Topkapı Palace now that Prince Suleiman has returned from his hajj (pilgrimage). If they do strike, it will be tonight at the cultural exposition the Prince has organized."

- Yusuf Tazim to Ezio Auditore.

In 1511, the grandson of the then Sultan Bayezid II, Prince Suleiman I, held a banquet for Ottoman nobility. It was meant to be a cultural exposition; however, the gathering was infiltrated by Byzantine Templars. These guests were preparing to kill Prince Suleiman at the gathering, though the Assassins were aware of this plot. With knowledge of this Templar conspiracy, a Master Assassin of the Turkish Assassins, Yusuf Tazim, planned to have his men enter the party dressed as minstrels, and eliminate the Templars. He, along with a couple of Assassin Apprentices, made their way to Topkapı Palace. There, they met up with the former Mentor of the Italian Assassins, Ezio Auditore.

The group of Assassins then beat up Italian minstrels in order to obtain their clothing. Armed with their new disguises, the Assassins infiltrated the party. Once inside the gathering, Ezio migrated between groups of attending nobles. Upon identifying the Byzantine among each group, he would distract the nobles, and signal for one of his fellow Assassins to stealthily kill the Byzantine. However, the Assassins were unable to locate Suleiman, and moved to an adjacent courtyard, where they found the Prince.

There, the Assassins repeated this process, and were able to successfully protect the young Prince from the Templars. However, a guard discovered one of the Byzantines' bodies, and immediately ordered for everyone to leave the courtyard. In the midst of the chaos, one of the Byzantine assassins managed to kill one of the guards, and ran at the Prince, preparing to stab him. However, the Assassins defused the threat, with Ezio being able to assassinate the Byzantine before he reached the Prince.

Having saved the Prince's life, Ezio and Suleiman then engaged in a brief discussion, which ended with the Prince telling Ezio to find him later, once he had removed his minstrel attire.

Uneasy meeting
"There is a hatch at the top of that tower which leads to a secret room. Go there, wait, and watch."

- Suleiman tells Ezio to observe the meeting.

Later that night, once Ezio had returned after changing, Suleiman informed the Assassin of a meeting to take place between himself, his uncle, Prince Ahmet, and the Captain of the Janissaries, Tarik Barleti. The Prince told Ezio to observe the meeting from a hidden room inside one of Topkapı's towers. Observing the meeting from the hidden room, Ezio watched vigilantly as Ahmet and Suleiman chastised Tarik for the Janissaries' failure to provide security at the party. Concerned with Tarik's allegiances to his family, Suleiman vowed to conduct a full-scale investigation into the incident. After this, the Prince left, although Ahmet and Tarik remained to discuss more private matters.

During their personal discussion, Ahmet questioned Tarik as to why the Janissaries despised him, yet admired his brother. Tarik spoke freely in his response, claiming Ahmet was weak and would make a poor Sultan, but a decent philosopher. Enraged by this disparagement, Ahmet told Tarik to leave, before departing himself.

With the meeting concluded, Ezio returned to the Prince in the courtyard, where he informed Suleiman of his suspicions regarding Tarik. The two vowed to keep an eye on the Captain, and Suleiman gave Ezio the location of where he might find Tarik during the day. The Assassin agreed to start there, and left the palace grounds.

Assassination orders
Later that same year, in 1511, Ezio met with Suleiman again at the palace, this time to discuss Tarik's business dealings. Ezio informed the Prince that Tarik was selling weapons from the Ottoman Arsenal to a Templar miser, Manuel Palaiologos. The two discussed Manuel briefly, then Suleiman told Ezio to obtain the information he needed from Tarik, and then to kill the Captain. Ezio questioned the Prince's orders at first, before agreeing, which ended the meeting.

Covert rendezvous
After Ezio assassinated Tarik at the Janissary camp, he returned to the palace to inform Suleiman of the deed. Meeting in an open, yet secluded, area away from the rest of the palace, Ezio discussed what he learned from Tarik. He told Suleiman that they both had made a mistake, Tarik was not a traitor. Instead, he had been plotting to destroy the Templar Order.

However, this meeting was cut short when Ahmet arrived, and talked briefly with Suleiman. Ahmet noticed Ezio though, and Suleiman introduced the Assassin as 'Marcello', one of his ambassadors in Kefe. Ahmet greeted Ezio, before politely asking him to leave, stating he had private matters to discuss with his nephew.

Legacy
For many centuries thereafter, Topkapı Palace served as the centerpiece of the Sultan’s power, and contained everything the Sultan needed to comfortably oversee the Empire. This included the Harem for raising and educating wives of future royalty, the Divan for the Sultan's meetings with the Sublime Porte, barracks for the Janissaries, and the Sultan's personal residence.

Trivia

 * As noted in the Database, Bayezid's absence is why Topkapı Palace is mostly empty of guards in free roam, despite being a restricted area.

Source

 * Assassin's Creed: Revelations