Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Retracing our steps a little way we come to a short passage that
leads to the large open Courtyard of the Valide Sultan. At the north-
west corner of the courtyard a doorway leads into Ocaklı Oda, the
Room with a Hearth, a tiled chamber dominated by a splendid
bronze ocak, or chimney-piece. On the right a door leads into the
apartments of the First and Second Kadıns, the two highest ranking
wives of the Sultan. On the left a door opens into a smaller chamber
called Çeşmeli Oda, the Room with a Fountain, named for the pretty
çeşme that adorns one of its walls. This and Ocaklı Oda served as
ante-rooms between the Harem and the Sultan's own apartments.
The apartments of the Valide Sultan occupy most of the west side
of the courtyard that bears her name, with four rooms on the ground
floor and four more above, all of them dating to 1666-7. The rooms
on the ground floor, the only ones open to the public, are her salon,
reception room, bedroom and sitting room. Her bedroom has Iznik
tiles dated 1667, with floral panels of quite magnificent design for
this reatively late date. A long and narrow hall known as the Corridor
of the Baths leads north from the Valide's sitting room to the Sultan's
apartments. This passes through an elaborate suite of rooms and
baths, partly on two floors, separating the baths to the east from the
living rooms to the west. There are two baths, the one on the south
belonging to the Valide and the other to the Sultan. Only the Sultan's
bath is open to the public. The two baths are almost identical, their
decoration baroque but simple; the actual bathing place screened of
by a gilt-bronze grille.
At its north end the Corridor of the Baths leads to the imperial
reception room known as Hünkâr Sofası, the Hall of the Emperor, the
largest and grandest room in the Palace. Divided by a great arch into
two unequal sections, the larger section is domed, the smaller, slightly
raised, with a balcony above. The upper part of the room - dome,
pendentives and arches - has been restored to its original appearance
in the late sixteenth century, while the lower part retains the baroque
decorations with which Osman III (r. 1754-7) unfortunately
adorned the entire room; the contrast is not altogether happy. This
Hall was a reception room where the Sultan gave entertainments for
the women of the Harem, the balcony being used by the musicians.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search