How was life like in the Harem?

 


This is the Concubines' and Mistresses' Quarters. The smallest courtyard of the Harem. Due to its location, it is known as both the Female Master's and Concubine's Taşlığı. It is connected to the Karaağalar on one side and to the Valide Taşlığı and the Masters' Chamber on the other. After this narrow and long courtyard, we come to the section where the women of the Harem lived. Emptied food trays were brought to the platforms on this stoneside and servant concubines would collect these trays. On the left side of the gizzard were a row of ablution taps, the entrance to the mosque with a large dome, the staircase door leading to the kalfalar apartment, and the entrance door to the bathhouse ashtray next to it. On the opposite side were the laundry, kitchen, pantry and a room belonging to the head chef. On the right side of the gizzard were the rooms of the first, second and third kadi masters. The fourth door opened to a wide staircase with 52 steps, known as forty stairs, leading down to the harem garden. The fifth door belonged to the concubines' ward. Through the upper floor, where the kalfa rooms were located, one could reach the gallery floor of the concubine ward. This situation indicates that the ward was kept under constant control. It was renovated after the 1665 harem fire. The landscape paintings on the facades of the women's apartments facing the gizzard are the first examples of naturalist Turkish painting from the 18th century. In the late 16th century, before the women's apartments were built, the gizzard used to open towards the Golden Horn with a terrace.

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