Also known as the Forbidden City, from 1465 to 1853, it was the official residence and main residence of the Ottoman Sultan in the city. It was also the place where national ceremonies and royal entertainment were held. The palace was conquered by the Sultan Mehmet II of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. It was ordered to start construction in 1459, when it covered an area of 700,000 square meters, and now only 80,000. For more than 400 years after , Topkapi Palace was the political and cultural center of the Ottoman Empire, and 25 of the 36 empires of the empire ruled the empire here. It was not until 1856 that Sultan Abdul Majid I established the new royal palace, Dolmabahce Palace, in the European part of the West Bank of the Bosphorus. The translation of the Topkapi Palace is the "gate of the cannon". It was built in the ruins of the Byzantine Capo Castle. The cannon was placed in the former bunker. The palace's four courtyards and other small buildings once occupied about 4,000 people. After the demise of the Ottoman Empire, on April 3, 1924, under the government's decree, the palace became a museum of the Age of Empires. The green area of the palace is very large, and the pieces of the French phoenix are sprinkled with green flowers and shades. There are also many houses, but only the most important parts are open to the public. Topkapi Palace is a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture, with a large collection of armor, Ottoman miniatures, Islamic calligraphy manuscripts, murals and Ottoman beadings. The museum is also divided into a number of separate exhibition halls, such as the Porcelain Pavilion, the Turkish National Treasure Hall, the Southern Sudanese Costume Hall, the Ancient Embroidery Pavilion, the Ancient Weapons Museum, the Ancient Watch Museum, etc.