Restoration works continues in Topkapı Palace

ISTANBUL

The ongoing restoration works in the Harem-i Hümayun (seraglio) section of the Topkapı Palace are nearing its end, as 80 percent of the works have finished.

Earlier, Valide Taşlığı (the courtyard of the Valide sultan), Ocaklı Sofa (the sofa with fireplace) and Çeşmeli Sofa (the sofa with the fountain) sections of the palace were reopened to visitors at the end of 2020 after six years of repair and renovation work.

The manual labor in the Harem section, known to have been used during the cholera epidemic during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz, is continuing with great care.

İlhan Kocaman, the head of the Topkapı Palace Department, stated that the Topkapi Palace Harem section actually consists of two parts, adding, “The first is the section of people living in the Harem, which is the section of the sultan, the sultan’s mother and princes. The second is the section of those who serve the Harem, including the concubines. As the Presidency of National Palaces, we quickly started work on the restoration of these parts after taking over the Topkapı Palace. We will open these parts to visitors in a few months.”

Stating that the Harem section aroused interest in the palace, Kocaman said, “We have been working for almost two years and completed some 80 percent of the restoration work. We will probably double the areas of the Harem that people are currently visiting. The most important work here is the hand labor, meticulously carried out by our masters in its original form.”