The Palace Privy Chamber and the Pavilion of the Blessed Mantle at Topkapi Palace houses the Chamber of the Sacred Relics. These were originally the private rooms of the Sultan Murad III (1546-1595). They house the most sacred relics of the Muslim world including the cloak of Muhammed, his swords and sabres, a bow, a tooth and some of his beard plus a letter written by him. There are also objects from his family and contemporary followers including an ancient copy of the Koran. They were brought to the palace sometime after the Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered the Abbasid Arabs in 1517. After this time the center of the Islamic faith moved from Mamluk Egypt to Istanbul. Murad III was an interesting character in that he corresponded with Elizabeth I of England and proposed an alliance of Muslim and Protestants faiths against Catholic Europe. He saw much in common with Protestants including the exclusion of idolatry. He almost went to war with England against Spain in 1585. Understandably line ups are huge both with Muslims and others queing up. You can easily stand in line for an hour in the baking sun just to get in. Make sure you pee before you get in line! The relics themselves are not overly visually impressive but they certainly held people's attention. Not that you had much time at any one post as the guards kept you moving along in a single file that weaved its way through the pavilion. I went through the first time I was at the palace but a year later I opted just to kick back and photograph the site and the people. What a riot of colors, shapes and forms there were.