The word "harem" refers to two things: the wives, favorites, and concubines of the sultan; and the part of the palace where they lived. Touring the Harem (hah-rehm) is an essential part of a Topkapi Palace visit, allowing curious Westerners to pull back the veil on this mysterious and titillating phenomenon. As you'll learn, the Harem was not a mindless orgy, but a carefully administered social institution that ensured the longevity of the Ottoman Empire.

ORIENTATION

Hours, Tickets:  The first tour runs at 10:00 (ticket office opens at 9:30), with a tour departing every 30 minutes after that until 16:00. You might be able to buy a ticket in advance for a tour later in the day, but generally they sell tickets for only the next tour. The ticket booth is sometimes unstaffed between tours.

Touring the Harem:

The tour is generally available in English; however, occasional staffing shortages mean that sometimes the tour is only in Turkish. Either way, this chapter's self-guided tour is better than the official commentary.
After buying your ticket, wait in the line by the entrance. (Once inside, it's basically a free-for-all, so there's no need to get near the front of the line.) Pass any wait time reading ahead in this tour. While your visit is technically "guided," once inside it's pretty disorganized—the group is too big for the guide to keep together, so people go at their own pace, and the guide occasionally imparts measly tidbits to whomever's nearby. Attendants ensure that nobody lingers too far behind the group, so you'll have to keep moving.
The tour route includes about 20 rooms, including the mother sultan's private apartments, wives' and concubines' courts, and the grand reception hall. While the information below should follow the route fairly closely, the tour can change if certain rooms are closed for renovation.

Harem 101

"All the goodness and evil comes from the mother sultan."
—Paolo Contarini, Ambassador of Venice
To Westerners, the word "harem" conjures up images of a vast roomful of nubile young sex slaves, eager and willing to satisfy the sultan's every desire. But this dated notion is a romanticized and inaccurate picture painted by Europeans who'd never actually laid eyes on a real harem. The Arabic word "harem" actually means "forbidden." In common use, it usually refers to the part of a Turkish house that's reserved for family members, specifically women. To Turks, "harem" connotes respect and dignity—not sexual fantasy.
At Topkapi Palace, the Harem was more than just a living area. It was an institution—part of the state. Its primary role was to provide future heirs to the Ottoman throne, an essential responsibility that was too important to be left to coincidence. Thanks largely to the Harem, the Ottoman Empire was ruled by a single dynasty from start to finish—avoiding many of the squabbles and battles for succession that tainted other great empires.

The Harem at Topkapi Palace worked like this:

The sultan was the head of the household, which he shared with his mother (the "mother sultan"). The sultan could have up to four wives, with the first one being considered the senior, most influential wife. Also living in the Harem was a collection of several hundred concubines—female slaves who kept house, but were not sexually active with the sultan. From among the concubines (his "harem"), the sultan—or, more often, his mother or wife—might select up to four "favorites," or haseki (hah-seh-kee), with whom he could become more, ahem, familiar. A favorite who bore a child of the sultan became known as a haseki sultan, and was often treated as a wife. Again, the sultan could only have sex with chosen women, not with anyone he wanted. Every night he spent with a woman was written down.
Even though they were permitted up to four wives, sultans were often cautious about marriage. Many sultans chose to have just one wife—or no wife at all, but only favorites. One reason not to marry was to protect potential wives from getting caught in the crossfire of history. Legend holds that after Sultan Beyazit was defeated by Tamerlane the Mongolian In the early 15th century, his wife swept the floors of Tamerlane's mansion as a slave. But sultans were also careful to guard the supreme power of the dynasty, and not to weaken this power through marriages. For example, Siileyman the Magnificent married Roxelana, who went on to wield tremendous influence over the empire, kick-starting a "reign of the ladies" that would last for a century and a half .
When the sultan died or was replaced, the mother of the new sultan (who was almost always a member of the previous sultan's harem) was the only one who could stay. Wives and favorites alike had to leave the Harem, and were given a house and a healthy pension.

THE TOUR BEGINS

• You'll begin by passing through the bronze-sheeted door (the Carriage Gate) into the antechamber known as the...

Dome

In the 16th century, this was the entryway into the Harem grounds. Draped carriages would pull up to this gate to take the Harem women in and out, for shopping, a picnic, or a private visit. New women would enter the Harem and be introduced to the staff here. The only men who could enter the Dome—other than the sultan and young princes—were the sultan's close relatives, and when necessary, doctors. These guests were escorted by the Black Eunuchs .
• For more on these caretakers of the Harem, follow the attractive stone-paved corridor into an open courtyard surrounded by functional buildings. This was the...

Courtyard of the Black Eunuchs

The Black Eunuchs were slaves from North Africa, Egypt, and Sudan who were trained and educated to serve in the Harem—to protect the women and take care of Harem administration. The sultan knew they wouldn't be tempted by their charges because they had been castrated by slave traders on the road from Africa. When this section was built in the 16th century, there were about 50 eunuchs employed; in later years, that number doubled.
On the left, recessed from the court behind the portico, are the Quarters of the Black Eunuchs. Look through the windows to see the dormitories where the Black Eunuchs lived. The room with mannequins near the end of the portico was reserved for the Chief Black Eunuch as a private apartment. You see the Chief seated at his sofa, his assistant waiting for his orders.
Just past the eunuchs' quarters on the left is a staircase leading to the School of the Princes. This was where heirs to the throne received their primary education. Then, when they hit puberty, they were sent out of the Harem—often for field training in remote provinces of the empire. Notice the colorful European tiles with bird designs.
• At the end of the courtyard, you'll enter the women's quarters through the Cumle Kapisi (jewm-leh kah-puh-suh), or "Gate for All." (You'll wind up back here at the end of the tour.) The gate opens into a guard room with large Venetian mirrors on the walls, surrounded by gold-leaf frames. As you enter, go to the mirror on the left wall; through the vault to the right of this mirror, you can peek into the fancy-looking, stone-paved...

Take My Wives...Please! A Few Words on Polygamy

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Turks have always been monogamous. Even though the Quran permits a man to marry up to four times, this is reserved for extraordinary situations. When the rule was instituted, wars had decimated the male population, leaving more women than men. And so, because there was no social-welfare network to care for war widows, men began to take additional wives. The Quran sets strict criteria for polygamy: You must have the financial means to support all your wives, and must treat each one equally. Under Ottoman rule, polygamy was practiced only among minorities, traditional Arab communities...and, of course, the ruling class who could afford It. Polygamy exists today only on the fringes of Turkish society (such as in some mostly Arab communities of eastern Turkey). Legally, Turkish women have had equal rights with men since the days of Atatürk—including the right to vote and run for election. Polygamy is illegal in Turkey. Besides, in most of the country, today's progressive Turkish women would never accept their husbands taking second wives.

Courtyard of the Mother Sultan

This courtyard—the centerpiece of the Harem complex—is where the various people living here could most easily mingle. The courtyard is fronted by apartments belonging to (from left to right) the mother sultan, the sultan, his senior wife (wife #1), and heirs to the throne. The tour takes us roughly clockwise around the interiors of these buildings.
• Now turn left and go down the Corridor of Concubines. Notice the long marble counter (on the left), usedfor service trays and cleaning up after meals. At the end of the corridor, you'll walk along the edge of a courtyard surrounded on three sides by a portico, the...
Courtyard of the Wives and Concubines
This courtyard was reserved for the use of the non-senior wives of the sultan. The building complex on the right is divided into three apartments—one each for wife #2, #3, and #4, plus their children and servants. Although they were neighbors, the sultan's wives were hardly friends. Rather, each one vied with the others to promote the interests of her own son. The wives received lavish gifts from the sultan, which they often invested in real estate, bazaars, baths, shops, and so on. The more wealth they had squirreled away, the better they could protect themselves from internal enemies. And their most hated enemy was often the wife next door—or, worse, the elderly woman up the hall: the mother sultan.
The quarters at the far end of the court were the residence of concubines, or female servants. (Notice the water taps on the left—used for ablution, or ritual cleansing—marking a bath and laundry room, followed by a small kitchen.) Concubines began as young slave girls, who were brought into the Harem and trained to serve the senior women. Being a concubine could be a major opportunity: Many were granted their freedom after just a few years in the Harem, and others attracted the attention of the sultan (or, more often, his mother) and were granted "favorite" (haseki) status. Again, the concubines were not sex slaves at the beck and call of the sultan—rather, the sultan mother and the sultan's wives carefully orchestrated which concubines the sultan could un-veil.
• Now continue into the...

Sultan Mother's Private Apartments

Notice how these apartments are strategically situated between the sultan's quarters and his wives'—yet another reminder of the sultan mother's strict control over her son's liaisons.

Beyond the antechamber with the fireplace, you enter the mother sultan's main hall and dining room. The 17th-century decor includes Kutahya tiles and landscape paintings (notice there are no people—since Islam discourages the depiction of humans in art). You can also see later, 19th-century touches that show the influence of European trends: Western-style paintings, and cupboard doors embroidered with tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl. To the right of the fireplace is the entrance to the mother sultan's bedroom and prayer chamber.
 
As you explore, ponder the tremendous influence wielded by the mother sultan. Traditionally, she always had a word in state affairs. But the mid-16th to the 17th centuries are known as the "reign of the ladies," when the sultans' mothers and wives (aided by the Chief of the Black Eunuchs) essentially ran the Ottoman Empire. This began with the incompetent, do-nothing heirs of Süleyman the Magnificent in the mid-16th century; by the time Ibrahim the Mad took the throne a century later, the only thing his mother Kösem didn't do was lead armies into war.
• Now take the passage acrossfrom thefireplace, into the...

Sultan's Private Apartments

At the end of the corridor, on the far right, is the sultan's private bath. This is basically a smaller-scale version of any Turkish bath, with a dressing room and a hot section for bathing, all paved with marble. The large marble tub was added in the 18th century, when this room was renovated in the Western style. Traditional Turkish bathing doesn't use a tub; rather, the water should always be running. Also notice the locked gold-leaf cage separating the sultan's private area from the rest of the bath.
• Take the doorway on the left wall into the Imperial Hall. (On the way, watch for an "Oriental toilet" to the left—porcelain footprints on either side of a hole in the ground—with gilded taps on the wallfor hot and cold water.)
The Imperial Hall, used as a reception hall for special occasions, is the largest room in the sultan's private apartments. The gallery at the left end of the hall was reserved for the senior women. Facing this gallery on the right, under a canopy carried by four slender columns, is the sultan's throne—actually a long sofa. Behind you, at the left corner, is a chamber for musicians (see the instruments through the window). Dutch Delft tiles with geometric designs decorate the walls; higher up is a line of Turkish İznik tiles. Excerpts from the Quran are written in calligraphy.
• Leave the hall through the gate at the opposite end. The doorway opens into an antechamber with beautiful 17th-century tile frames on the walls. Take the door on the left.
Named for the marble fountains set into the wall, the Fountain Room is covered with 16th-century İznik tiles, many with Quran verses. Through the doorway at the far end of the room (notice the elaborate little carved fountain on the left), you enter the library of Ahmet I—better-lit, more tranquil, and more private-feeling than the Fountain Room. Notice the shutters and drawers with more inlaid mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, and ivory. To the left is a tiny chamber known as the Fruit Room. Built in the early 18th century, it's decorated with wood panels with fruit and flower designs.
• Backtrack through the Fountain Room to the antechamber, and go through the doorway opposite. On the left, just before the big courtyard, is the entrance to the...

Twin Pavilions

These two connected pavilions, richly decorated with stained-glass windows and floral tiles, were the living quarters for young heirs to the throne.
The rooms used to be mistakenly identified as "the Cage," where brothers (and potential rivals) of the sultans were kept under house arrest. As draconian as that sounds, it was an improvement on the original tradition, when sultans would kill their brothers to avoid conflicts over the throne. Sultan Ahmet I, the patron of the Blue Mosque, chose imprisonment for his brothers rather than death. This caused a new problem: If a sultan died or became unable to rule, his brother would take the throne after having spent his entire life under lock and key—and without any knowledge of how to run an empire. These incompetent-brother sultans have often been blamed for hastening the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
• Now continue into the...

Courtyard of the Favorites

As the name implies, this is where the sultan's favorites—the
haseki—resided (in the white two-story building that surrounds the courtyard). In addition to their interactions with the sultan, these favorites had a great view of the lower gardens and pool, with the Golden Horn beyond.
The sultan mother selected the favorites from among the concubines. Despite birth-control -and the disapproval of the wives—a favorite would often bear the child of a sultan. In this case, she became a haseki sultan, joined the ranks of the senior women...and her life would change forever.

• At the end of the portico next to the Twin Pavilions, you enter a long corridor leading back to the mirrored antechamber where you entered the women s quarters. This corridor—dubbed the "Golden Road"~is where the new members of the Harem would line up to receive golden coinsfrom a new sultan.
Past the mirrored chamber, the vaulted passage to the left takes you to the Harem exit. Exiting the Harem, you'llfind yourself in the Third Courtyard. To go back to where you started, turn right and follow the wall to the Gate of Felicity, which deposits you back in the Second Courtyard. (s3)