Seraglio

'palace', via Turkish, Italian and French) is a castle, palace or government building which was considered to have particular administrative importance in various parts of the former Ottoman Empire.

[1] The term can also refer to other traditional Turkish palaces (every imperial prince had his own) and other grand houses built around courtyards.

[d][9] Besides the Topkapı Palace ("The Seraglio"), the most famous seray is the Grand Serail of Beirut (Arabic: السراي الكبير, romanized: Al-Sarāy al-Kabir) in Lebanon, which is the headquarters of the prime minister.

[c][4] The ghettoes established in many Italian cities following the promulgation by Pope Paul IV in 1555 of the papal bull Cum nimis absurdum were initially called serraglio degli ebrei, lit.

In the context of the turquerie fashion, the seraglio became the subject of works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's 1782 Singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's 1781 libretto Belmont und Constanze, oder Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Belmonte and Konstanze, or The Abduction from the Seraglio).

A hall in the Seraglio ( Topkapı Palace ), Istanbul
Sultan Selim III holding an audience in front of the Gate of Felicity, by Konstantin Kapıdağlı , Topkapı Palace
Ottoman officers in front of the Al-Karak Saray in 1910, following the Karak revolt .
Tiled room inside the harem, Topkapı Palace
An illustration of the women's quarters in a seraglio, by John Frederick Lewis
The Grand Serail of Beirut , Lebanon
The Grand Serail of Aleppo , Syria
The Red Serail of Tripoli , Libya