1. Gate of Salutation
2. Royal Stables
3. Kitchens
4. Harem Entrance
5. Divan
6. Public Treasury
7. Gate of Felicity
8. Throne Room
9. Exhibition of Costumes
10. Imperial Treasury
11. Library of Ahmed III
12. Mosque
13. Hall of the Treasury
14. Holy Relics of Islam
15. Iftar Pavilion
16. Circumcision Room
17. Yerevan Pavilion
18. Bagdad Pavilion
19. Mustafa Pasa Pavilion
20. Head Physician’s Tower
21. Wardrobe of Abulmecid I
22. Mecidiye Pavilion

It was clear to Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople (now

Istanbul), that the new capital of the expanding Ottoman Empire was

going to need a new palace. The city he had conquered in 1453 was in

ruins, and not only because of the damage his own siege had done. The

Byzantine Empire had been on the decline for a long time, and there

were only so many reparations they could make to their crumbling

capital with the little gold they had left.

Mehmed II wanted to keep the mythic splendor of Constantinople alive

in his new city, eventually to be called Istanbul, as much as he wanted

to make it particularly Ottoman. Many of the more rundown buildings

of the Byzantines, therefore, had to go, and others had to be torn down

to make way for Mehmed’s own vision of the capital he would create.

Thus, the Great Palace of Constantinople, which had even been

abandoned by the Byzantines, and the Palace of Blachernae, were

ignored, and eventually torn down, in favor of a new palace, which

Mehmed immediately desired to begin building.

The first palace Mehmed II built, now on the site of Istanbul

University, was to be known in later times as the Old Palace. A while

later, Mehmed II began what was to become known as Topkapi Palace.

It is necessary to note that Mehmed II never meant Topkapi to be used

as a residence; instead, it was meant to be the administrative center of

the government. But during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in

the 16th century, things changed, and the Old Palace was nearly

abandoned in favor of Topkapi. In this way, many of the basic

structures you see in Mehmed’s Topkapi Palace, except the Harem, can

be traced back to the very first years of the Ottoman conquest of

Constantinople. But Topkapi Palace has been damaged so much by

natural and man-made disasters, especially the fires of 1574 and 1665,

that by and large, it would now be unidentifiable to Mehmed II.

All in all, Ottoman sultans reigned in this palace for 400 years, and the

history, which took place inside its walls, is immense. We will only take

a brief look at all that Topkapi Palace has to offer, but even with only

this small look, a mysterious and extravagant world will begin to

emerge for you.

Topkapi took its name from the Cannon Gate or Topkapı, which was

directly below it in the Sea Walls of Istanbul. This gate can no longer be

seen, as much of the Sea Walls around the palace were destroyed in the

19th century.

The palace has a total of three main gates: there is the Imperial Gate

or Bab-i Hümayun, the Gate of Salutation or Bab-üs Selam, and the Gate

of Felicity or Bab-üs Saadet.

The general layout of Topkapi Palace can be broken down roughly into

four areas, basically divided by the gates. There is the First Courtyard,

which was, in a sense, the most public part of the palace; the Second

Courtyard, which was used for governmental administration; the Third

Courtyard, which was dedicated to the education of upcoming palace

administrators; and then the Fourth Courtyard and the Harem, where

the sultan’s family lived.

On the same side as the Imperial Gate, but at the opposite end of the

palace wall, is a lovely pavilion called the Processions’ Pavilion or Alay

Pavilion. It was from here that the sultan watched, unnoticed, the

general happenings of the Sublime Porte next to it, addressed the public

on occasion, and also watched the grand processions and parades that

would go in and out of the First Courtyard.

The Sublime Porte is outside the palace walls, and was the residence of

the grand vizier. Now there are offices of the governor of Istanbul.

First Courtyard

Let’s enter the Topkapi Palace grounds through the Imperial Gate,

which cannot be missed with its geometric Kufic calligraphy, the oldest

calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts.

In front of the gate is the beautiful Fountain of Ahmed III, inscribed

with poetry likening it to the fountains of paradise.

This gate is from Mehmed II’s time, and you can see his tuğra, or royal

signature, above it. Because it was restored by Sultan Abdülaziz in

1867, his tuğra is also here.

The First Courtyard, or Birun, marked the official entry into the area of

Topkapi Palace, and the beginning of a strange silence, which only

became deeper the farther one went into the palace. In order to have

absolute control and respect, the sultan would not accept any

unnecessary sound, including speech, in the courtyards, except during

official ceremonies. No matter how many people were present, or how

important a message may have been, it could not be communicated

verbally. Instead, most of those who worked in the palace learned sign

language, and there were often mute men employed to teach this

necessity.

Nowadays, happily, you are free to talk and walk around this large,

shaded, grassy area, which in Ottoman times would have had more

buildings than we see now. Here were a bakery and a hospital for the

palace, and there would often be ceremonies here, which the public

could also witness. This was also the area in which the palace

janissaries, the elite of the Ottoman army, would assemble.

The First Courtyard is where you find also the Hagia Eirene, or the

Church of the Divine Peace, built in the 4th century by the Byzantines.

In fact, it was the first church that was built after the founding of

Constantinople. Interestingly enough, it was also one of the few that

was never turned into a mosque by the Ottomans. Instead, it was used

as an armory throughout most of Ottoman history. One wonders if the

Ottomans were aware of the irony when they filled the Church of the

Divine Peace with Ottoman weapons.

Nowadays it serves more peaceful purposes as a concert hall, and

although it is considered a museum as well, you have to receive special

permission to enter, unless you buy a ticket to one of the concerts.

Just a little way beyond the Hagia Eirene you can see the gates to the

Imperial Mint.

The First Courtyard of the palace was also a place where certain

guilds were located, including the basket weavers, miniature painters,

carpenters, and blacksmiths.

Close to the ticket booths you come to a fountain. This fountain is

commonly called the Executioner’s Fountain and has a bloody tale that

goes along with it.

Legend has it that the more well-known traitors or enemies of the

Ottomans, or suspected thereof, were executed in front of this fountain,

and that after the sentence was carried out, the executioner would clean

his bloody tools in this fountain.

This tale is only partly true, for the fountain you see today is a more

recent structure, commissioned by Sultan Abdülhamid II who reigned

after this style of execution was stopped in 1826. At any rate, it is

highly possible that the fountain before this was the real Executioner’s

Fountain, and that the death sentences were carried out somewhere not

far from where you now stand.

With that said, let’s move on, the palace is ahead of you.

Second Courtyard

Let’s now walk toward the Gate of Salutation or the Middle Gate (No. 1

on the map of Topkapi Palace), an impressive and iconic structure in its

own right. Two towers with conical tops rise on either side of it, and

between these two structures and above the gate itself is a wall

complete with battlements. All of these together give the impression of

a classic European-style castle, but then the Ottoman inscriptions give it

away.

The most prominent calligraphy, in gold, above the gate states:

“There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet.”

Under this is the tuğra of Mahmud II, and to either side of this are those

of Mustafa III, because both sultans initiated restoration work on the

palace.

The enormous iron gates come from the reign of Suleiman the

Magnificent. This gate is also the official entrance to the Topkapi

Museum. Let us now pass through these gates and into the Second

Courtyard.

The few people who had access to this area were those who were

important for the administration of the Ottoman Empire. And what a

wonderful area they entered!

Ottoman and foreign chroniclers have written of how the State

Council Square, or the area immediately in front of the gate, was

incredibly beautiful and serene. There were cypress trees and ornate

fountains amongst which deer, gazelle, peacocks, and ostriches

wandered. Today it is still quite pleasant even though there are no

longer any exotic animals wandering around. There are beds of flowers,

and benches rest under magnificent magnolias and plane trees.

You begin to notice the beautiful marbles and granites that were used

to build the palace, especially in the columns. Quite a story could be

told from the columns, for they often came from all over the Ottoman

Empire or were taken from ruined Byzantine structures.

The most important structure in the Second Courtyard was the Divan, or

the Council Hall, where the Imperial Council met. You can locate the

Divan by noticing the highest point of the palace called the Divan Tower

or the Tower of Justice. This pointed tower was the place where the

sultan would sometimes sit in order to observe his realm.

On the left side, in a separate small courtyard, there were the royal

stables (No. 2). Only twenty to thirty of the sultan’s favorite horses were

kept in these stables. He went hunting often, and would ride a horse

into war. Often he would receive horses as gifts, some would be taken

from the enemies in war, and some were bred here.

On the right side of the Second Courtyard is the part of the palace most

visible from the Golden Horn, the Palace Kitchens (No. 3). Because of a

severe fire in 1574, reportedly due to soot catching fire in the chimneys,

much of the palace had to be rebuilt. The kitchens were repaired to

roughly the same plan as before by the famous architect Mimar Sinan,

except the chimneys were completely redone.

Now you see the twenty tall chimneys rising out of the kitchens’ roof as

if it were not kitchens but a factory, and perhaps a factory is a better

description for the amount of food which was produced here every day.

The kitchens were a bustling and hugely important part of life in

Topkapi Palace as thousands of people every day were fed by the

hundreds of cooks that labored over the cooking fires. There were

probably separate sections of the kitchens used for various activities,

like making jams, desserts, meats, and even soap.

Detailed documents have been found in the Topkapi Palace archives

that tell us a lot about the different kinds of food that were prepared in

the palace. Still, they sadly do not cover every detail of the kitchens’

use, and so many things are left unknown.

It seems that although it cannot be said that the majority of those living

in the palace grounds ate badly, they certainly did not get to eat such

dishes as the sultan. Above all, the cooks of Topkapi Palace in charge of

the sultan’s meals tried to create a huge diversity of dishes, many of

which have been forgotten, but some are still well-known. In fact, many

of the Turkish dishes that one can try today were first developed in the

kitchens of Topkapi Palace. For example, it is argued that baklava, as

the Turks know it now, a dessert made from very thin pieces of pastry,

layered one on top of the other with ground nuts such as pistachios and

walnuts in the middle, was first developed here in Topkapi.

The kitchens once used an enormous number of different ceramics,

most of which were not Ottoman but Chinese in origin. Chinese

porcelain and pottery with celadon glaze, famous for its jade coloring,

were highly valued in the Ottoman court. Since the technology to

produce such pieces of ceramics only existed in China and then in Japan

until the 18th century, the Ottomans were almost constantly importing

them. It is even thought that some pieces were produced specifically for

the Ottoman sultans.

Celadon was highly prized because it was thought to neutralize the

poison or that poisoned food would change the color of the plate,

although we are not aware of any incident when this effect was

observed in history.

The collection of ceramics at Topkapi remains one of the largest and

most valuable collections of Chinese pottery in the world.

Next you see the entrance to the Harem (No. 4). Close by, there was a

small room that was used by the Halberdiers of the Tresses. These were

men who wore long locks of hair, either braided or curled, coming

down from underneath their headgear, which showed their special

status in the palace and which also, strangely enough, acted as blinders,

probably for when they would enter the Harem. They were slaves who

were trusted to go almost anywhere inside the palace. Their main task

was to act as guards, but they also cleaned, delivered firewood, and

performed other tasks.

They came into the palace through the devşirme system, and since

they were taken into this system no later than 12 years old, they were

observed by their teachers for most of their time in the palace. The

teachers then decided the proper role of each devşirme student.

You are now at the entrance of the Divan, or the Imperial Council rooms

(No. 5), where it seems that everything has an outline of gold. These

rooms, like many in the palace, have been renovated several times,

most recently in the 18th century, but the actual rooms probably took

their general form during the reign of Murad III in the 16th century.

It is the intricate baroque style that loudly proclaims itself here,

especially on the outside.

The gold screens are placed inside gentle arches, and are surrounded by

painted Ottoman arabesques that are decorations based on rhythmic

linear patterns, or, as above the columns, pastoral scenes, non-

figurative, of course, as is proper in Islamic art.

Not only did the Imperial Council meet here to decide upon the most

important affairs of the Ottoman Empire, and meet the foreign

ambassadors, but they also came together to hear the grievances of the

general public and to rule on them. This role was traditionally played

by the sultan himself, but Mehmed II began a tradition of retreating

from the public. Sometimes he resembled the Byzantines much more

than the Ottomans before him.

The Divan held importance until the Sublime Porte, the residence of

the grand vizier, came to prominence, and the proceedings were moved

over there.

The Ottoman term for the Divan is Divan-ı Hümayun, which in English

means imperial council. The Divan’s main purpose was to be a council

that the sultan’s subjects could go to with their problems, which the

council would then try to solve. The sultan’s main role since the first

sultan, Osman I, was to be a kind of ultimate judge who could solve

disputes and right wrongs.

Since those early days, people from all over the empire with all kinds

of problems would come to the sultan and seek his judgment. However,

as mentioned, Mehmed II began the tradition of retreating from public,

and eventually did not attend the Divan meetings.

In this way, the grand vizier was then the highest-ranking official in

the Divan. The other viziers would be representatives of the three key

governmental sections: the military, the religious, called the ulema, and

the bureaucracy or finance. This doesn’t mean that they were only

represented by three men; in fact, sometimes multiple men represented

different factions within each major branch, like the different factions of

the army and navy in the military branch.

The sultan did not always attend the meetings, even before Mehmed

II. However, the sultan sometimes observed through the small latticed

window, which you will see inside. If he disapproved of any of the

viziers present, he would not hesitate to punish or even execute the

displeasing vizier.

The Divan could also sentence a wrongdoer to death; in this case,

sometimes the person to be executed would die the same day. However,

the sultan had ultimate control, and could override any decision, or

simply ignore the Divan’s ruling anytime he wanted.

Let’s now enter the Divan, and make an interesting connection. The

word divan is Arabic and means council of state which has been applied

not only to the actual meeting but also the room itself. Now, looking

around the room, you can see the low couches lining the walls, which,

of course, are known as divans in the West. This is how the Arabic word

for council of state came to be applied to a kind of furniture.

This first room is known more specifically as Under the Dome or

Kubbealtı, and you can see some lovely Iznik tiles on the walls.

Notice also the small window with the gilded grates. It was from here

that the sultan would sometimes watch the proceedings of the council,

often in secret. Many ministers lost their heads due to something the

sultan saw from this small window that he didn’t like.

The second room has some nice marble sheets and painted pastoral

scenes.

Next to the Divan is the Public Treasury (No. 6), where all the wealth

of the sultan was stored in underground chambers.

It is now used to display weapons, armor, and other materials of war,

not all of which are from Ottoman times.

In another room is an exhibition of old clocks.

You now find yourselves outside the Gate of Felicity or the Gate of the

White Eunuchs (No. 7), which will take you into the Third Courtyard of

Topkapi Palace.

Most of the designs you see on the door are in the 18th-century rococo

style, and there are also some fascinating, non-figurative frescoes.

This area in front of the door was used for ceremonial purposes.

Here is also a small marble area that marks the place where the sultan

would erect the standard, once carried by the Prophet Muhammad,

before going to war.

The man who would stand guard at this gate was called Kapı Ağası,

which means the Chief White Eunuch or the Chief Palace Eunuch.

The Ottomans highly valued eunuchs as servants. They were bought

as slaves, educated in the palace, and if they were intelligent and

capable enough, and made the right political connections, they achieved

high positions of power, such as the Chief Black Eunuch or the Chief

White Eunuch. The Ottomans were perhaps particular in that not only

did they employ eunuchs, but they also gave them quite a bit of power

in the empire.

The Chief White Eunuch was essentially the head of all the palace

administration and had a considerable amount of power. The Chief

Black or Harem Eunuch, or Kızlar Ağası, was in charge of all things

related to the harem. Especially during the decreasing power in the

sultanate and the rise of power within the harem, the Chief Black

Eunuch became an extremely influential player in palace politics.

The trade and creation of eunuchs can easily be classified as cruel

and also hypocritical. Muslim law prohibits mistreatment of slaves in

Muslim territory, and for this reason, eunuchs were largely made

abroad. The white eunuchs, to work in the palace, were mostly from the

Balkans and the Caucasus in Europe, and the black eunuchs, to work in

the harem, were largely from Sudan in Africa.

A large center for the creation of black eunuchs was in Egypt, and the

procedure was mostly done by monks, surprisingly. The operation that

was performed was not only extremely painful but also dangerous;

incredibly few boys who underwent the operation survived.

However, if they survived, they were sure to fetch a large price at the

slave market. It should also be noted that the Ottomans were not the

only people to use eunuchs. The Byzantines before them similarly

valued eunuchs as slaves, and the Chinese had been creating eunuchs

already for centuries.

Harem

The entrance to the Harem, which was the sultan’s and his family’s

living quarters, is situated in the Second Courtyard, as you saw earlier

and is called the Carriage Gate (No. 1 on the map of the Harem). This is

because when the ladies of the harem were taken out, they had to be

wrapped in clothing and placed inside a curtained carriage, which

would then proceed out through this gate.

The Harem is an enormous structure containing some 300 rooms, and

it seemingly lacks any rhyme or reason to its layout. Sections were

added piece by piece over a long period of time as their need was felt.

But contrary to one’s first glance, even though there was never a master

plan, the rooms do manage to have a certain internal logic in their

arrangement. But still, the comparison to a labyrinth is entirely

justified.

There are a few sections that we know were used for a specific

purpose, such as the queen mother’s (valide sultan’s) quarters, but there

are also any number of rooms whose purpose remains unknown, and

that probably were used for different things throughout the palace’s

long history.

It is necessary to remember that only the sultan had access to all areas

of Topkapi Palace; all the rest of the people were restricted to specific

areas, and it can be easily said that none were as restricted as the

women. But despite the Harem’s reputation of being only for women,

and especially the sultan’s concubines, the Harem more accurately

represents a family area of a ruling sultan.

In all Ottoman households, space was separated into the selamlık, or

the reception area for guests, and the harem, or the area for the family.

It was the same way in Topkapi Palace, where the sultan’s family lived

in the Harem. The sultan could visit both the selamlık and the Harem,

but women were restricted to the Harem, and unrelated men restricted

to the selamlık area.

The harem had a number of slave servants who were at the disposal of

the concubines, who were also technically slaves. The servants would

all be female. They would perform all household tasks. Some would be

nurses and wet nurses to the children of the sultan. Thus, the women

who bore children had a lot of help in raising their children, as besides

the servants, women helped each other.

The valide sultan, or ruling sultan’s mother and the haseki, or sultan’s

favorite concubines, certainly had separate rooms in the Harem. But as

for the other women, it’s likely that they also did, but not impossible

that sometimes they shared a room. The children in the harem would be

educated, both boys and girls, from the age of five.

The sultan’s sons each had some 20 female servants and three male

servants and were educated at a separate Princes’ School in the Harem.

After circumcision, usually at the age of 13 or 14, which marked them

as adult men, the princes were sent off to become governors in the

provinces of the empire.

The Harem Eunuchs, or the Black Eunuchs, wouldn’t go into the Harem

proper; they stayed in a separate section and mostly served an

administrative function.

The sultan would never go to a concubine’s room; he would only have

them sent to his room in the Harem. There is a myth that the sultan

used to drop a white handkerchief in front of the woman he’d share a

bed with that night, but this is not true. There was probably no

ceremony connected to how the sultan chose the concubine with whom

he’d spend the night.

Interestingly enough, it was often a sultan’s mother who would

introduce the sultan to a pretty concubine; it was, in a way, part of her

duty to her son. Before spending the night with the sultan, the woman

would go to the hammam or hamam in Turkish, put perfume on, and

make herself beautiful.

Since the Harem was well guarded and the women all technically

slaves, the likelihood of a plot emerging to kill the sultan from inside

the harem was too low to worry about. In fact, the women in the harem

were usually well treated and had a large amount of social mobility.

The slave servant girls, if they were favored, were often married to

high-ranking officials or other high-ranking slaves. Remember, even the

person who held the second highest position in the empire, the grand

vizier, was technically a slave, so being a slave during the Ottoman

Empire meant a very different thing from being a slave in, say, colonial

India.

To complicate things further, the sultan’s brothers also had their

quarters here, but they were separate from the harem, and the brothers

certainly were not allowed to see the harem women, unless they were

related to them. The sultan’s brothers’ rooms were not very pleasant,

after all. This area was known as the Kafes, meaning Cage.

A note should be made regarding the sultan’s brothers. Beginning with

Mehmed II, the Ottomans practiced something called open succession,

meaning that there were no rules regarding which son of the deceased

sultan could become the next sultan. At times, this meant that the

brothers, who would be stationed as governors throughout the Ottoman

Empire, would wage war upon one another until a clear victor arose.

They sometimes had their own armies and would also construct

valuable political alliances to help their cause.

The janissaries, the elite of the Ottoman army, were particularly

influential during times of succession. Usually, whichever brother

captured the support of the janissaries became the next sultan. When

one brother became the clear victor, he had the right to have his

brothers strangled, but never stabbed, for no royal blood could be

drawn! Usually a eunuch or one of the new sultan’s loyal servants

performed this gruesome task. Even if the victorious brother had many

younger brothers, even infants, they too would be murdered.

Mehmed II was the first to have an infant sibling of his drowned, and

he had a fatwa, or ruling written allowing the practice. This particular

fatwa is known as the Ottoman law of fratricide, meaning the act of a

person killing his brother. Before this, it was murder to kill one’s

brothers, but now, for the sake of succession, it was allowed.

In 1617, when a young Ahmed I took the throne, the law of fratricide

was paused. Perhaps because Ahmed was so young, he wasn’t even

circumcised, or perhaps because his brother, Mustafa, was considered to

be so feebleminded as to not be a threat. In any case, after Ahmed died,

Mustafa was proclaimed the new sultan, although he was deposed after

only about three months.

This began a new policy where the oldest prince, who didn’t

necessarily have to be the dead sultan’s son but could also be the son of

a previous sultan, could take the throne without contest. In the 18th

century, this new practice solidified to become the norm and fratricide

was no longer practiced. Of course, this led to another practice of

locking up the sultan’s brothers inside the Harem rooms, for they could

not be trusted as it was possible for them to stir up a rebellion. This is

where the need for the Cage originates. It was not uncommon for a

prince to go a little crazy in his imprisonment there, and then be

suddenly set upon the throne. Very bad sultans, like Ibrahim I, came

about because of this practice.

The Harem in the Western mind, that is filled with the sultan’s

concubines and is the setting of endless partying, singing, dancing girls,

and so on, is somewhat of a misrepresentation and reflects an

overactive imagination of the early Western travelers. No doubt there

were sultans who spent more time with the women of their harem than

ruling the Ottoman Empire, but perhaps we can say that by and large

this was not the norm. In fact, the word harem comes from Arabic, and

denotes a forbidden or sacred area, that may be closed to certain things

or people. There is no suggestion of brothel or sexuality in its usage.

As vast as the Harem may seem, it is hard not to imagine it as a large,

luxurious cage. To be sure, the ruling sultan’s mother or valide sultan

and the sultan’s favorite concubines or haseki, found ways to exercise

considerable power even from inside the Harem, but their role in

society was still dependent on their male children or the sultan himself.

A woman found herself inside the Topkapi Palace’s Harem in only a

few ways: she could be bought or captured as a slave, or she could be

born to a concubine, princess, or wife of the sultan. A woman would

never enter the Harem as a wife of one of the sultan’s brothers, for,

when the brothers were not killed, they were certainly not allowed to

produce children, and so would never be able to take a wife. Therefore,

they would only be allowed to mingle with those female slaves who

were past childbearing age or who were infertile.

As for the female slaves, they were grouped into a few general

categories. First and lowest, there were the chambermaids, or odalık

(what the French call odalisque). There were also the cariye, who were

probably similar to the odalık, or who may have been acquired

specifically to become concubines. However, they were at least the

second lowest in the harem hierarchy. They were the servants of the

higher-ranking women in the harem, but had the chance to move up if

they could catch the sultan’s eye.

The women that the sultan chose to spend the night with were

referred to as gözde, meaning in the eye, or ikbal, meaning good fortune.

And if the fortunate woman was especially favored, she came to hold

the desired position of haseki. Furthermore, if a haseki bore a male

child, and if he came to one day be the sultan, the woman would move

then to the extremely powerful and enviable position of valide sultan.

The whole harem was kept in this strict hierarchy.

By virtue of the fact that all of the women here were for the sultan,

many of them were celibate, at least until they could leave the harem. It

was possible for slaves to be freed after a while as the freeing of a slave

was also a virtue according to Muslim law.

There was also a strict rule in the harem that only extremely few

women broke, which allowed only one son per woman. If a woman had

more than one son, she would later have had to choose whom to

support during the war of succession for the throne, which would be a

terrible thing to basically sentence all but one of your sons to death, as

only one could become a sultan and the others were killed. Some of the

concubines in the harem never had sexual contact with the sultan, and

those that bore him a son would be celibate after that or perhaps

practice a form of birth control.

This is a hugely different picture of the harem than is in the Western

imagination.

The surprising thing about all of this is that even the valide sultan, by far

the most powerful woman in all the empire, more powerful than many

of the men, was still technically a slave. You must remember, again,

that being a slave in the Ottoman Empire meant a very different thing

than being a slave elsewhere in the world. At one time, slaves made up

the majority of the ruling class in the Ottoman Empire!

In this way, you can see that there were many different kinds of

slaves, and that a slave that, say, washed the dishes was entirely

different from the slave that was in charge of the empire’s finances. The

latter slave actually had a large amount of power and wealth, and could

only be considered a slave in the technical sense.

After entering the Harem you walk through a small room called the

Domed Cupboard Room into the Ablutions Chamber (No. 2) that used

to house a fountain at which the Black Eunuchs would perform their

ritual ablutions before entering the mosque. Here, the famous tiles of

the Harem begin. Some are in a sad state of disrepair, but others seem

just as brilliant as they were when they were placed.

Soon you find yourself in the Harem Eunuchs’ Courtyard (No. 3) around

which are the doors and windows of the Harem Eunuchs’ rooms. The

whole area along with the interior of the eunuchs’ rooms is decorated

with Iznik tiles.

These rooms were only for the Black Eunuchs; the White Eunuchs duties

were in the other parts of the palace. This was the way the palace was

organized: the Black Eunuchs could enter the Harem, at least partway,

but not the White Eunuchs.

You next reach an ornate door called the Main Gate or Cümle Kapısı

(No. 4), through which you pass from the eunuchs’ quarters into the

other parts of the Harem. Over the gate, the calligraphy comes from a

section of the Koran, which advises one on the proper conduct toward

the Prophet’s wives.

The room with two large mirrors was for the guards of the Harem, and

as you continue, you end up in another courtyard, this time for the

sultan’s concubines.

The Courtyard of the Concubines or Cariye Avlusu (No. 5), is rather

narrow but has lovely colonnades, and toward the end you can see the

concubines’ rooms.

Amongst these are three large, domed rooms for the women in charge

of general Harem happenings: the Harem Treasurer and the Head

Laundress in charge of the laundry. The Harem Treasurer had keys to

all treasure rooms of the Harem where the money and valuables of the

valide sultan and other women in the Harem were kept. It is interesting

to note that all concubines received regular monetary allowance from

the sultan.

Next you come to the Valide Sultan’s Apartments (No. 6). The mother of

the ruling sultan certainly commanded an enormous amount of power,

especially during the Sultanate of Women in the 16th and 17th

centuries.

The rooms are quite large, and you are only seeing part of them: those

being her reception room, bedroom, and sitting room, although there is

confusion as to if these were actually the rooms’ intended uses.

They were built originally in the 16th century, but after a fire in 1668

they were rebuilt.

Notice the walls, they are painted with non-figural pastoral scenes, in a

Western style.

Then there is a long hallway that leads from the Valide Sultan’s

Apartments to the Sultan’s Apartments.

You also pass the hammams (No. 7). The two of them are right next to

one another so that they could be heated by the same ovens. The

hammams are lovely, and rather simple after the extravagance of the

rest of the palace, since they are only of white marble with a few golden

touches.

Next you find yourself in the Sultan’s Apartments (No. 8), which are

the largest and most luxurious of the entire Harem.

First you see the enormous Imperial Reception Hall or Hünkâr Sofası.

This room was primarily used as an entertainment room, and the large

space was necessary to house the musicians, who were always

blindfolded if women were present, and female dancers that performed

here.

There are two distinct styles here, one dating from the classical era in

the 17th century, and the other from the 18th century, in a baroque

style. The hall is hard to call beautiful in its present form, given all its

disparate elements, however, its separate sections are quite handsome.

There is a reason to believe that this great domed room was built by the

famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan.

Like the paintings in the valide sultan’s rooms, here are other signs of

the West’s increasing influence, such as the large crystal chandelier

hanging from the central dome.

The Courtyard of the Valide Sultan (No. 9) is next. It is quite a beautiful

area, and much larger than the other courtyards. Along the ground, you

see a bumpy stone path made of dark and light smooth stones.

The shuttered windows above the colonnade are charming, and the

light shining down into this place must have been much appreciated.

The next room is the fabulous Salon of Murad III (No. 10), not his

bedroom, although it is often mistaken as such. Likely the work of the

famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan in 1578, this is one of the most

fascinating and architecturally perfect rooms in the Harem.

The calligraphy running around the walls is from the “Verses of the

Throne” in the Koran, praising Allah’s absolute authority over all the

earth. The Iznik tiles here are of the highest quality.

Of interest also is the large dome, the wonderful symmetry of the room,

and the marble fountain in the wall.

Sultans often had fountains placed around the palace, not only to cool

the air and soothe their nerves, but to also have secret conversations

underneath the sound of running water.

To one side is a later addition made by Ahmed I, also quite pretty,

perhaps once housing a library. This room has a pleasant view of part of

the palace gardens. You may see a similarity between the tiles of this

room and those of the Blue Mosque, for Ahmed I was responsible for

them both. The aqua green color of the tiles is prominent and separates

this room’s decoration from the others you have seen.

Next you see another room by another Ahmed, this time the tulip-

crazed Ahmed III. This room is from the early 18th century and has

absorbed the influence of the rising Western powers. You see that the

walls of this room are painted with fruits and flowering plants; hence its

name, the Fruit Room.

This room is quite refreshing to look upon. The vases overflowing

with flowers and the bowls piled high with fruit are serene and

remarkably different stylistically from what you’ve previously seen.

Many say this room is a highlight of the Harem.

Next you come to the rooms called the Twin Pavilions (No. 11) that

were once thought to have been the Cage; an apt name for the area the

sultan’s brothers were imprisoned. Of course, this kind of detention was

preferable to the practice of fratricide (killing of brothers), which, until

Ahmed I, was the method of dealing with the brothers of an incoming

sultan, yet it also had its problems.

Some of the men who were so isolated from real life ended up becoming

sultan. And having no formal training, and having lived a life in fear of

being executed upon the whim of their brother, they generally made

very poor sultans. They even sometimes went mad, as was the case of

Ibrahim I. Thought to have been too crazy to ever be a threat, Murad IV

spared Ibrahim from being killed, yet, unfortunately, this allowed

Ibrahim to eventually become sultan.

Now it is known that the real Cage is above an area you will come to

shortly, and that the crown princes lived here in the Twin Pavilions.

The stained-glass windows and the bronze fireplaces make these two

rooms quite unique.

The next hall is known as the Council Place of the Jinns (No. 12), an

interesting name with no known backstory. Above this area was the real

Cage.

Then there is the Terrace of the Favorites (No. 13) and also their

apartments. You can understand why this area was chosen for them by

looking at the view they had from here of the Golden Horn. Probably

this is the most beautiful open area that you have seen so far in the

Harem.

The sunshade that is part of the roof is beautifully decorated in

geometric designs, and the slender columns make the area feel light and

airy. Wooden supports arch upward from the columns to help support

the second floor, which sticks out a bit farther than the first.

The terrace overlooks a pool in the palace gardens below, an area which

at one point may have even housed elephants. You can also see a part of

a building that has Iznik tiles on the outside.

The usually held idea by the tourist of what life was like for the

women in the imperial Harem of Topkapi Palace is incorrect. Most of

the women were far from promiscuous, even when concerning the

sultan. They had tight schedules every day, with little time to luxuriate

on cushions and eat fruit, as they are often depicted in Western

Orientalist paintings.

When a woman came into the Harem, if she were untrained, she

would first go through a period of education and training. Firstly, since

the women were usually foreigners, they needed to learn to read, write,

and speak the Ottoman Turkish language, which was no easy task as

Ottoman is notoriously difficult. Ottoman Turkish borrows extensively

from Arabic and Persian languages and was largely unintelligible to the

less-educated lower classes and rural Turks. However, Ottoman Turkish

uses a regular Arabic script. No doubt the women were also taught

Arabic in order to read the Koran. There would be instruction also in

singing, dancing, and musical instruments, such as the ud, a kind of

Middle Eastern lute. They would also be instructed in etiquette and

proper speech.

After their education, they would be separated into the different classes

of slaves. If they were not talented, they would be given the menial

tasks, such as cleaning. If they showed talent, they had a chance to

move up to become a concubine or an administrator of the harem, such

as the Head Laundress. And, of course, if they were chosen as a favorite

or haseki of the sultan, this was the highest they could hope for, except

the attainment of the status of valide sultan, which could only come if

their son by the sultan would become sultan in his own right.

In order to become valide sultan, especially in the 16th and 17th

centuries, the favorites of the sultan had to also establish and cultivate

valuable political connections, which would help their son achieve the

throne after his father. People such as the grand vizier were often very

important to the valide sultans, and they would work to establish close

bonds with them. Communication was achieved in a number of ways:

first, there was the Jewish female slave kira, who was able to deliver

messages into and out of the Harem. Then there was simply

communication by letters, and also the exchange of gifts.

If a favorite had a daughter, a princess, or more than one, she would

seek to establish connections with influential men in the Ottoman

government to also further her influence by marrying the daughters. It

is an interesting fact that married off princesses had a possibility to

divorce their husbands upon approval of the sultan, however, their

husbands had no such possibility. The princesses would usually marry

at the age of 14 to 16 to the Islamic rulers in the Balkans or Anatolia.

The women in the harem, especially those with more power like the

favorites, acted much like politicians do today. They were constantly

keeping up their friendship or political partnership with powerful men

on the outside, granting favors and asking favors in return.

But there were, of course, leisure activities as well. Especially in good

weather, the women would take seats inside palanquins, the concealed

carriages carried by servants, and be brought over to temporary

pavilions by the Bosporus or the Golden Horn.

Women who had a son with the sultan, but who were not favorites,

and whose sons would never become sultan, would often be allowed to

go visit their sons in whatever district of the empire they had been

stationed as Ottoman officials.

There would also often be music in the Harem, which the women

trained in music would play. Other kinds of light amusements were

available too, like storytelling and puppet shows.

The slave servants had a term of nine years to serve in the harem.

After that they could leave and marry, usually receiving some money

from the sultan, who would also pay for the marriage ceremony.

We have now reached the end of our tour, and leave through the

Golden Path (No. 14), called so due to its frequent use by the sultan.

Along this path was also where a concubine named Cevri Khalfa bravely

interrupted assassins sent to kill the future Mahmud II by throwing hot

coals in their faces.

We go out through the Gate of Carts, where the incredibly powerful

valide sultan Kösem was strangled by the Chief White Eunuch, Tall

Suleiman, most likely upon the orders of her daughter-in-law and the

incoming valide sultan, Turhan Hatice.

Let’s exit into the Third Courtyard. Probably your mind is buzzing with

the profusion of colors and designs that you’ve seen inside the Harem.

Congratulations – you have just finished touring one of the most

unique and well-loved sites in the world. Now perhaps you understand

why Topkapi Palace continues to inspire designers, writers, and

architects.

Although its halls and rooms are empty save for tourists and the

museum caretakers, Topkapi Palace seems to still be buzz with the

residual energy it accumulated thanks to centuries of being the center of

the Ottoman Empire.

• 1. Carrage gate
• 2. Ablutions Chamber
• 3. Harem Eunuchs’ Courtyard
• 4. Main Gate
• 5. Courtyard of the Concubines
• 6. Valide Sultan’s Apartments
• 7. Valide Sultan’s and Sultan’s Hammams
• 8. Sultan’s Apartments
• 9. Courtyard of the Valide Sultan
• 10. Salon of Murad III
• 11. Twin Pavilions
• 12. Council Place of the Jinns and the Cage
• 13. Terrace of the Favorites
• 14. Golden Path

The Harem

Dolaph Kubbe vestibule

Courtyard of the Black Eunuchs

Courtyard of the Valide Sultan

Salon of the Valide Sultan

Royal Baths

Imperial Hall

Privy Chamber of Murat III

Privy Chamber of Ahmet I

Fruit Room

Twin Kiosk

Terrace of the Favorites

Golden Way

Third Courtyard

Fourth Courtyard