Topkap Saray - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 82

a pleasant balcony from which the Sultan could look out over the
gardens of the Saray and across the Golden Horn to the green hills of
Pera on the other side. In all the Saray there could have been no more
agreeable place for the Sultan to enjoy his keyif than there, cooled by
gentle breezes from the Bosphorus, watching the lights twinkling like
captive constellations on the hills of his beautiful city, listening to the
soft voices of his women whispering along the Hall of the Favourites.
It is no wonder that they once called this place Darüssaadet, or the
House of Felicity.
Tours of the Harem end at the Gözdeler Taşlığı, and from there
we head back to the exit. We follow the Golden Road, passing the
staircase where in the year 1809 the slave girl Cevri Khalfa fought of
the assassins who were trying to kill Prince Mahmut, the future Sultan
Mahmut II. We then pass through the Cümle Kapısı, the main gate
of the Harem, and turn left twice to pass through Kuşhane Kapısı,
the Birdcage Gate, where in 1651 the Sultan Valide Kösem was killed
by the Chief Black Eunuch, Tall Süleyman. Here we leave the Harem
and return to the Third Court, having completed our stroll through
the House of Felicity.