Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

Third Court The Third Court is entered through the Gate of Felicity . The sultan’s private domain, it was staffed and guarded by white eunuchs. Inside is the Audience Chamber , constructed in the 16th century but refurbished in the 18th century. Important officials and foreign ambassadors were brought to this little kiosk to conduct the high business of state. The sultan, seated on a huge divan, inspected the ambassador’s gifts and offerings as they were passed through the doorway on the left. Right behind the Audience Chamber is the pretty Library of Ahmet III , built in 1719. Light-filled, it has comfortable reading areas and stunning inlaid woodwork. On the eastern edge of the Third Court is the Dormitory of the Expeditionary Force , which now houses a rich collection of imperial robes, kaftans and uniforms worked in silver and gold thread. Also here is a fascinating collection of talismanic shirts, which were believed to protect the wearer from enemies and misfortunes of all kinds. Textile design reached its highest point during the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, when the imperial workshops produced cloth of exquisite design and work. Don’t miss Süleyman’s gorgeous silk kaftan with its appliquéd tulip design. On the other side of the Third Court are the Sacred Safekeeping Rooms . These rooms, sumptuously decorated with İznik tiles, house many relics of the Prophet. When the sultans lived here, the rooms were opened only once a year, for the imperial family to pay homage to the memory of the Prophet on the 15th day of the holy month of Ramazan. An imam sometimes sits near the exit and recites from the Koran. Next to the sacred Safekeeping Rooms is the Dormitory of the Privy Chamber , which houses portraits of 36 sultans, from austere 17th- and 18th-century patriarchs to their later descendants. The highlight is Konstantin Kapidagli’s wonderful painting of the Enthronement Ceremony of Sultan Selim III (1789) with its curving line of turbanned spectators. En route to the Fourth Court you will pass the Dormitory of the Treasury , which accommodated the palace treasury’s many staff, who numbered over 150 by