Female members of the Sultan's family lived in the harem, and leading state officials, including the Grand Vizier, held meetings in the Imperial Council building.

The palace complex has hundreds of rooms and chambers, but only the most important are accessible to the public as of 2020,[update] including the Ottoman Imperial Harem and the treasury, called hazine where the Spoonmaker's Diamond and the Topkapi Dagger are on display.

[9][better source needed] The palace complex is located on the Seraglio Point (Sarayburnu, سرای بورونی), a promontory overlooking the Golden Horn, where the Bosphorus Strait meets the Sea of Marmara.

[10] The Ottoman court was initially set up in the Old Palace (Eski Saray, اسكی سرای), today the site of Istanbul University in Beyazit Square.

According to an account of the contemporary historian Critobulus of Imbros the sultan "took care to summon the very best workmen from everywhere – masons and stonecutters and carpenters ... For he was constructing great edifices which were to be worth seeing and should in every respect vie with the greatest and best of the past.

The principle of imperial seclusion is a tradition that was codified by Mehmed II in 1477 and 1481 in the Kanunname Code, which regulated the rank order of court officials, the administrative hierarchy, and protocol matters.

The architects had to ensure that even within the palace, the sultan and his family could enjoy a maximum of privacy and discretion, making use of grilled windows and building secret passageways.

[citation needed] In 1574, after a great fire destroyed the kitchens, Mimar Sinan was entrusted by Sultan Selim II to rebuild the damaged parts of the palace.

[citation needed] The palace is an extensive complex rather than a single monolithic structure, with an assortment of low buildings constructed around courtyards, interconnected with galleries and passages.

Various related buildings such as small summer palaces (kasır, قصر), pavilions, kiosks (köşk, كوشك) and other structures for royal pleasures and functions formerly existed at the shore in an area known as the Fifth Courtyard, but have disappeared over time due to neglect and the construction of the shoreline railroad in the 19th century.

Its central arch leads to a high-domed passage; gilded Ottoman calligraphy adorns the structure at the top, with verses from the Qur'an and tughras of the sultans.

Numerous artifacts from the Roman and Byzantine periods that have been found on the palace site during recent excavations, including sarcophagi, are on display in the Second Courtyard in front of the imperial kitchens.

[43][21] Porcelains often entered the palace collection as parts of the estates of deceased persons, and were sometimes circulated as gifts amongst members of the royal family or other leading officials.

On the lacquered ceiling of the throne, studded with jewels, are foliage patterns accompanied by the depiction of the fight of a dragon, symbol of power, with simurg, a mythical bird.

[65] Behind the Audience Chamber on the eastern side is the Dormitory of the Expeditionary Force (Seferli Koğuşu), which houses the Imperial Wardrobe Collection (Padişhah Elbiseleri Koleksiyonu).

It consists of two floors raised on a terrace above the garden, built at the top of the promontory on a cliff with views from its porch of the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus.

The first room of the treasury houses one of the armours of Sultan Mustafa III, consisting of an iron coat of mail decorated with gold and encrusted with jewels.

[citation needed] Among the exhibits are two enormous solid gold candleholders, each weighing 48 kg and mounted with 6,666 cut diamonds, a present of Sultan Abdülmecid I to the Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca.

The gold ceremonial Bayram throne, mounted with tourmalines, was made in 1585 by order of the vizier Ibrahim Pasha and presented to Sultan Murad III.

The Dormitory of the Royal Pages (Hasoda Koğuşu) houses the Imperial Portraits Collection (Padişah Portreleri Sergi Salonu) was part of the Sultan's chambers.

The opposite doors lead to the small dining chamber (rebuilt by Ahmed III) and the great bedchamber,[84] 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.

The Twin Kiosk / Apartments of the Crown Prince (Çifte Kasırlar / Veliahd Dairesi) consists of two privy chambers built in the 17th century, at different times.

The Courtyard of the Favourites (Gözdeler / Mabeyn Taşlığı ve Dairesi) forms the last section of the Harem and overlooks a large pool and the Boxwood Garden (Şimşirlik Bahçesi).

The apartment of the Sultan's Favourite Consort along with the Golden Road (Altın Yol) and the Mabeyn section at the ground floor also included the Hall with the Mirrors.

Avlu), also known as the Imperial Sofa (Sofa-ı Hümâyûn), was more of an innermost private sanctuary of the sultan and his family, and consists of a number of pavilions, kiosks (köşk), gardens and terraces.

With its tiles dating to the 17th century, mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell decorated cupboard and window panels, this pavilion is one of the last examples of the classical palace architecture.

The square Tower of the Head Tutor (Başlala Kulesi), also known as the Chamber of the Chief Physician and court drugstore (Hekimbaşı Odası ve ilk eczane), dates from the 15th century and is the oldest building in the Fourth Courtyard.

Both were built on the orders of Sultan Abdül Mecid I as an imperial reception and resting place because of its splendid location, giving a panoramic view on the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus.

Located next to the Grand Kiosk is a high-end restaurant which has been visited by guests such as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, First Lady Jackie Kennedy, President Richard Nixon, and boxer Mohammed Ali.

[68] On 30 November 2011, Libyan ex-police and revolutionary Samir Salem Ali Elmadhavri, apparently copying the act of Norwegian extremist Anders Behring Breivik, attempted to massacre hundreds of tourists visiting the palace in the early hours.