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Topkapi Palace vs Chora Museum
Both are rated highly by professionals. On balance, Topkapi Palace is the choice of most writers compared to Kariye Museum. Topkapi Palace has a TripExpert Score of 97 with praise from 9 sources including Fodor's, Lonely Planet and Time Out.
Topkapi Palace
Fodor's
Concierge
Lonely Planet
Let's Go
Michelin Guide
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Babıhümayun Caddesi , Istanbul, Turkey
From $0 /night
Fodor's
"Few other royal residences match this hilltop compound when it comes to mystery, intrigue, and the lavish intricacies of court life."
Full review
Concierge
"If you're stuck for time, limit yourself to the main palace and the harem, the most intimate and personal rooms used by the sultans and their many, many women."
i
Avoid going on weekends or during peak periods of the day so you miss the busloads of people who move in flocks around the grounds in a veritable babel of chattering languages.
Lonely Planet
Top Choice
"This opulent palace complex is the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world's royal residences put together."
Full review
Let's Go
"The views are luxurious, the buildings overwhelmingly crafted, and the treasures outrageous. "
Full review
Michelin Guide
3 Stars
"In the harem of Topkapi Palace visitors are plunged into a mythical Orient of a thousand and one treasures and as many fantasies."
Full review
i
Visit the unmissable Treasury and its masterpiece: a 250kg solid gold throne encrusted with diamonds and emeralds.
Chora Museum
Fodor's
Concierge
Lonely Planet
Travel + Leisure
Let's Go
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Kariye Camii Sokak,No:26 Edirnekapi, Istanbul 34087, Turkey
From $0 /night
Fodor's
"The dazzling mosaics and frescoes in the former Church of the Holy Savior in Chora are considered to be among the finest Byzantine artworks in the world."
Full review
Concierge
"Tucked away in a far corner of the Old City, just by the Edirnekapı gate, is the tiny Kariye Museum, also known as the Chora Church."
Lonely Planet
Top Choice
"İstanbul has more than its fair share of Byzantine monuments, but few are as drop-dead gorgeous as the Chora Church."
Full review
Travel + Leisure
"This pumpkin-domed church-turned-museum is one of the great surviving jewels of Byzantine art and architecture."
Full review
Let's Go
"Chora Church requires some serious ceiling-gazing, cramp-in-the-neck-calming skills—you’ll find some of the most beautiful surviving Byzantine art on the domes above your head."
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