Built into the wall of Gülhane Park, the 19th-century Alay Köşkü (Parade Kiosk) is a polygonal building where the sultan would sit and watch the periodic parades of troops and trade guilds that commemorated great holidays and military victories. Beautifully decorated inside, with painted walls, stained-glass windows, chandeliers and highly polished wooden floors, it is now open to the public as a literature museum and library named in honour of novelist and essayist Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar (1901–62).
Inside are packed shelves of Turkish books and literary items such as pens belonging to Ayşe Kulin, author of Last Train to Istanbul.