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At its height, the Ottoman Empire stretched from the border of Persia in the east to Algiers in the west. It included the Balkans right up to the doorstep of Vienna and extended south to the tip of the Red Sea.

All of this territory was controlled from the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. The "peace" treaty signed after WWI dissolved the empire and helped create the mess we have today in the Middle East.

Now, Topkapi is part public park, and part museum.