Harem, Topkapi Palace Harem

Home > Museums of Turkey > Topkapi Palace: Harem

HAREM continued...

THE IMPERIAL HAMAM

Narrow corridor leads from the Apartments of the Valide Sultan to the Imperial Sofa. On the right of this corridor lay the Imperial Hamam. This has the classical hamam layout with undressing-room, tepidarium and caldarium. In the undressing-room remains of painted decoration can be seen on the upper sections of the walls.

The Fruit Room of Ahmet III The small tepidarium leads into a caldarium. It is roofed by a central dome carried by four polygonal marble columns with 16th century style capitals. They are supported on domes and vaults resting on pilasters engaged in the side walls. The section on the left is divided off by a bronze-gilt grill. It was reserved for the private ablutions of the sultan.

Behind this hamam there is the Hamam of the Valide Sultan. This is another hamam of almost exactly the same dimensions. The whole thus offers a fine example of a typical Turkish double hamam. The two hamams, one for women and the other for men, were heated from the same source.

THE IMPERIAL SOFA

From the Imperial Hamam a door gives access to the Imperial Sofa. This was originally the work of the 16th century architect Sinan. But it underwent substantial repairs and alterations in the 18th century during the reign of Osman III. It is roofed by a fairly large dome supported on four pointed arches with four Turkish triangles. It has been enlarged by the addition of a two-storied section to the left of the entrance roofed by three vaults. The sultan's throne was placed under a canopy opposite the entrance to the sofa.

Main Entrance Door to Harem The walls of the sofa are decorated with painted motifs and wood-carving in the 18th century Baroque-Rococo style. The blue and white tiles on the right wall resemble those of Dutch manufacture. A tile inscription in large blue and white lettering runs round three sides of the room. In the upper sections of the walls are double, stained-glass windows with pointed arches.

The canopy, the gallery and the platforms beneath them were all added in the time of Osman III, when the room first began to be used for various types of ceremonies.

The chairs in the sofa were presented by the German Emperor Willhelm. The large clock was a gift from Queen Victoria.

THE APARTMENTS OF THE CHIEF BLACK EUNUCH

These are immediately to the right of the Quarters of the Black Eunuchs. The entrance hall consists of a large niche covered with tiles. The school of the Princes and the hamam on the upper floor are closed to the puclic.

On the right of the Apartments of the Chief of the Black Eunuchs stands the real entrance to the Harem. This opens into a paved passage where the black eunuchs stood guard. On the right there is a door opening into the Golden Way, while the door on the left opens into a long corridor leading to the courtyard of the Kadnefendiler ( the Sultan's wives ). A third door opens on to the Courtyard of the Valide Sultan ( Queen Mother ). One or two black eunuchs would stand guard on the platform beside this door, while beside the door opening into the Apartments of the Kadinefendiler can be seen the high marble shelves on which the food was placed for distribution to the inhabitants of the Harem.

THE SOFA WITH THE HEARTH

The Imperial Sofa opens into the Sofa with the Fountain which in turn opens into the Sofa with the Hearth. This is a rectangular chamber with a large door giving access to the Courtyard of the Valide Sultan. The room takes its name from the large fireplace with iron grill immediately opposite this door. The room itself is divided into two sections, one of which is roofed by a dome, the other by a flat ceiling. The walls are faced with tiles, with a blue and white tile inscription beginning from the left of the fireplace and running round the four walls of the room.

THE CHAMBER OF MURAT

This chamber is the work of the architect Sinan. Of all the rooms in the Harem, this is undoubtedly the one that has undergone the least alteration throughout the centuries. The entrance door itself is a very simple. It is an example of the marble portals in classical Ottoman buildings of the 16th century. The room is square, with a fairly large dome resting on four Turkish triangles. On the wall to the right of the entrance, there is a monumental fireplace. In the centre of the wall to the left of the entrance there is a cascade wall fountain set in a niche surmounted by a Bursap arch. The other walls are occupied by built-in cupboards. The inside of the dome is decorated with hundreds of palmettes and roumi motifs in blue and gold relief. The drum of the dome has a double border. The upper border consists of a painted decoration of plant motifs while the lower has a decoration of geometrical patterns. The pendentives are also decorated in the same technique with many-pointed stars and geometrical interlaces. The decoration on both the dome and on the four pendentives is very skillfully and successfully restored by Mualla Eyupoglu.

The whole surface of the walls is covered with tiles. In the upper section, there is an inscription running round three sides of the room.

The Reading Room of Ahmed I THE READING-ROOM OF AHMET I

The chamber of Murat III opens into the Reading Room of Ahmet I. This is a square room with a small dome carried by four Turkish triangles. These pendentives and the arch fillings between them are decorated with tile inscriptions. On the lower faces of the walls opposite and to the right of the entrance there are three windows. To the left there are built-in cupboards and a door giving access to the Dining-Room of Ahmet III. On the right of the entrance, there is also a niche containing a fountain and decorated with inscriptions.

The remains of painted decoration in the dome probably date from the 18th century.

The decline in Turkish taste that set in at the beginning of the 17th century is apparent in the tiles decorating the room. The Turkish triangles are surrounded by a green and white inscription border. In the centre of the triangle there are four tile inscriptions. The arch fills between the triangles surrounded by an inscription border in blue and white tiles. There are also three stained-glass windows bordered by the same type of tiles.

In the lower sections of the walls there are windows with shutters decorated with mother-of-pearl and tortoise-shell on one side and ivory inlay on the other.

This room was originally built as a small pavilion. But Ahmet I was known to be a man of literary tastes. The inscriptions on the walls and the presence of a few books in the cupboards led to this room being described as the Library of Ahmet I.

A small door with an inscription containing the date H. 1117 ( 1705 ) opens into the Dining-Room of Ahmet III ( 1703-1730 ). This is a small room with a wooden roof and low panel vaulting. The ceiling and the wooden paneling on the walls are covered with laque decoration. There is quite a large mirror in the centre of the ceiling.

The upper section of the walls is surrounded by an inscription arranged to form two seperate borders with a decoration of vases of flowers set in rectangles between them. Below these there is a border composed of pictures of plates of fruit set between spiral columns. On the right wall there is a plaster fireplace with a window on each side. The windows look out on to the Courtyard of Osman III. On the wall opposite the entrance there is a fixed screen concealing a door giving access to Imperial Sofa.