On a promontory overlooking the waters of the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, Sultan Mehmed built a palace that served as the imperial residence and center of government until the nineteenth century. Unlike European royal palaces, Topkapi was not a single monumental building but a walled compound, a city within the city. Its complex of buildings and gardens consisted of two distinct sections. In the Outer Palace, organized around the first two courtyards, several thousand employees handled all kinds of official business and palace services. The Inner Palace, on the other hand, was the private space of the ruler, accessible only to his servants, pages, eunuchs, and women.