Topkapı Palace Museum / Harem
PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM
IMPERIAL HALL / HÜNKAR SOFASI
The Imperial Hall (Hünkâr Sofası), also known as the Imperial Sofa, Throne Room Within or Hall of Diversions, is a domed hall in the Harem, believed to have been built in the late 16th century. It has the largest dome in the palace. The hall served as the official reception hall of the Sultan as well as for the entertainment of the Harem. Here the Sultan received his confidants, guests, his mother, his first wife (Hasseki), consorts, and his children. Entertainments, paying of homage during religious festivals, and wedding ceremonies took place here in the presence of the members of the dynasty.
Sultan’s Sofa is the largest place in its dimensions located between Sultan Murad III’s Private Room and hamams. It was concluded from the written sources and panoramic pictures that it was built between 1580-90 with its first shape after Sultan Murad III’s Private Room. It is known that Harem residents, upon Sultan’s ascending to throne and in following days, after wearing the sword ceremonies in tombs in Eyüp, offered their loyalties to Sultan on this sofa, where Harem’s musical entertainments, meetings, congratulation and other ceremonies were also held.
Also, delivering the birth to girls or boys, and celebrations of Sultan’s daughers’, also known as hanım sultan, engagements and marriages were held in this hall. The building with its contemporary look today displays the restorations and modifications throughout the centuries. Sofa went through a significant restoration activities after the 1665 fire. It has survived today with a level that reflects the rococo dominated ornament style after the renewal during Sultan Osman III era (1754-1757).
The name of Osman III stands on the inscription on the entrance door of the hall. The walls are covered with golden gilding and painted wooden cover as well as European tiles (Delf), and fountains were also added. The decorations in different styles from different eras of this place that hosted many entertainments in Harem had created a very impressive environment in which various tastes had come together.
After the Great Harem Fire of 1666, the hall was renovated in the rococo style during the reign of Sultan Osman III. The tile belt surrounding the walls bearing calligraphic inscriptions were riveted with 18th century blue and white Delftware and mirrors of Venetian glass. But the domed arch and pendantives still bear classical paintings dating from the original construction.
In the hall stands the Sultan's throne. The gallery was occupied by the consorts of the Sultan, headed by the Queen Mother. The gilded chairs are a present of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, while the clocks are a gift of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. A pantry, where musical instruments are exhibited and certain other apartments, opens to the Imperial Hall which gives access into the Sultan's private apartments.
A secret door behind a mirror allowed the Sultan a safe passage. One door admits to the Queen Mother’s apartments, another to the Sultan's hammam. The opposite doors lead to the small dining chamber (rebuilt by Ahmed III) and the great bedchamber, while the other admits to a series of ante-chambers, including the room with the fountain (Çeşmeli Sofa), which were all retiled and redecorated in the 17th century.
After the Great Harem Fire of 1666, the hall was renovated in the rococo style during the reign of Sultan Osman III. The tile belt surrounding the walls bearing calligraphic inscriptions were revetted with 18th-century blue-and-white Delftware and mirrors of Venetian glass. But the domed arch and pendantives still bear classical paintings dating from the original construction.
In the hall stands the sultan's throne. The gallery was occupied by the consorts of the sultan, headed by the Queen Mother. The gilded chairs are a present of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, while the clocks are a gift of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. A pantry, where musical instruments are exhibited, opens to the Imperial Hall, which provides access into the sultan's private apartments.
A secret door behind a mirror allowed the sultan a safe passage. One door admits to the Queen Mother’s apartments, another to the sultan's hammam. The opposite doors lead to the small dining chamber (rebuilt by Sultan Ahmed III) and the great bedchamber, while the other admits to a series of ante-chambers, including the room with the fountain (Çeşmeli Sofa), which were all retiled and redecorated in the 17th century.
This domed space in the Harem, where ceremonies and receptions were held, is believed to have been constructed toward the end of the 16th century. Entertainment, weddings and exchange of Bayram felicitations took place in this Hall. The faience inscription on the wall dates from the 18th century revetted with blue and white Delft tiles decorated in the rococo style after the 1665 Harem fire.
The dome, the arches and the pendentives are ornamented with classical patterns traced by brush dating from the beginning of the construction. The Sultan’s Throne and the gallery of the Valide Sultan and Kadinefendis have an imposing aspect. A cellar and the doors of other apartments open on to the Throne Room which is the entrance of the Sultan’s apartments in the Harem.
This Hall which is the largest domed space of the Palace is the most important part of the apartments reserved for the residence of the Sultan, his mother and wives, who had moved into here in the 1580s. This hall, built a few years after the Privy Room of Sultan Murad III in 1579, and whose original character based on the pillared and arched infrastructure, was designed as an open domed hall surmounted by a big dome seated on four suspension arches with a monumental projection at the entrance and façade whose abutment being without windows.
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WEB SITE : Topkapı Palace Museum Directorate
MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : topkapisarayimuzesi@kultur.gov.tr
Phone : +90 212 512 0480
Fax : +90 212 526 9840
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