Frequent earthquakes have taken their toll in Istanbul, but the city suffered most from disastrous fires which ravaged the wooden buildings, tinder-dry in the hot summers. The tall cylindrical fire-tower (still there) of Galata which was reconstructed by the Ottomans for watchmen of the municipal guard is just visible to the right of the picture. In the background, across the Golden Horn can be seen the buildings of the palace complex of Topkapi Sarayi, built on the end of the promontory called Saray Burnu (Seraglio Point). The magnificence of the palace was in the extent of its relatively small but beautiful buildings set in wonderful gardens with views towards the other six hills of the city, the Golden Horn and the further shore of the Bosphorus on the Asian side. When Topkapi Sarayi was abandoned by Sultan Abdülmecid I in the 19th century he moved to a new palace at Dolmabahce along the Bosphorus which was a massive western European style building with imposing facades.
On the shoreline to the left can be seen the mosques Kilic Ali Pasha Camii and the Nusretiye Camii, still well-known landmarks.