Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
On the left (west) side of the Second Court is the ornate
Imperial Council Chamber
.
The Imperial Divan (council) met in the chamber to discuss matters of state, and the sul-
tan sometimes eavesdropped through the gold grille high in the wall.
North of the Imperial Council Chamber is the
Outer Treasury
, where an impressive
collection of Ottoman and European arms and armour is displayed.
WOMEN OF THE HAREM
Islam forbade enslaving Muslims, so all of the concubines in Topkapı's Harem were foreigners or infidels.
Girls were bought as slaves (often having been sold by their parents at a good price) or were received as
gifts from nobles and potentates. Many of the girls were from Eastern Europe and all were noted for their
beauty. The most famous of these was Haseki Hürrem Sultan (Joyous One), more commonly known as
Roxelana, who was the consort of Süleyman the Magnificent. The daughter of a Ruthenian (Ukrainian)
Orthodox priest, she was captured by Crimean Tatars who raided her home town and brought her to Con-
stantinople to be sold in the slave market.
The chief black eunuch, the sultan's personal representative in administration of the Harem and other
important affairs of state, was the third most powerful official in the empire, after the grand vizier
and the supreme Islamic judge.
Harem
The entrance to the Harem is beneath the Tower of Justice on the western side of the Se-
cond Court. If you decide to visit - and we highly recommend that you do - you'll need to
buy a dedicated ticket from the Harem ticket office.
As popular belief would have it, the Harem was a place where the sultan could engage
in debauchery at will. In more prosaic reality, these were the imperial family quarters, and
