Topkapı Palace Harem Buildings

After Mehmet the Conqueror's conquest of Istanbul in 1453, Topkapı Palace, whose construction began in 1460 and was completed in 1478, was built on an area of 700,000 square meters on the Eastern Roman acropolis located in Sarayburnu at the end of the historical Istanbul peninsula between the Marmara Sea, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. 16. In the last quarter of the 16th century, after the Harem was moved to the New Palace (Topkapı Palace), the Harem section was reorganized and almost every period witnessed construction activities. The wing of the palace facing the Golden Horn gradually expanded as the Harem became increasingly crowded and institutionalized. The architecture of the Harem underwent radical changes, parts damaged by earthquakes and fires were rebuilt, and the Harem reached its present boundaries over the centuries with a number of Restorations and additional structures during the reign of almost every sultan.
This complex, consisting of spaces lined up around a rectangular yard, is built on the masonry basement floor in the Harem Substructure and the basement floor built on the northwest facade of this floor, covered with barrel vaults and resting on interlocking mesh piers. In the superstructure, Selim III's Room, Abdülhamid I's Room, Selim III's Prayer Room located above this room, Mihrişah Sultan Apartment, the corridor built on the southwest wing of the yard and providing direct connection from the Harem to the Osman III Pavilion and Osman III Pavilion were built with wooden frame construction technique.

Within the scope of the Restoration works, archive scans related to the building were carried out together with research and analysis studies in the field. Within the scope of the work, mother-of-pearl works, gold leaf works, wood carving, decoration and pencil works were carried out. The building continues to operate as a museum with all restoration and conservation works completed.