HAREM UNVEILED

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32708, 10 September 1971, Page 17

HAREM UNVEILED

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) i ISTANBUL. The harem of Topkapi Palace where Ottoman sultans indulged their sexual pleasures—has been opened to the public, for the first time since the palace was built five centuries ago. The harem, which occupies more than a third of the total area of the palace complex, was a forbidden place to all men except the sons of the sultans and the black eunuchs who served them. Since the palace was turned into a museum soon after the declaration of the Turkish Republic, in 1923, thousands of visitors each year have walked through the gardens and other buildings, marvelling at the wealth of jewellery and porcelain.

They could also see many relics .of the prophet Mohammed—but the harem still remained forbidden. However, architects, artists and artisans have been busy for the last ,12 years discovering secret passages and repairing and restoring the royal apartments. Among these were the “Golden cage,” in which Ottoman rulers kept their heirs away from plots of usurpation, and the “House of birds,” where beauties from all parts of the empire waited their turn for the favour of the imperial couch. More than £300,000 sterling has been spent in the restoring some of the finest Turkish art, commissioned by the sultans in the heyday of

the empire, which lasted 1 from 1453 to 1923. i A dozen or so rooms in i the harem were opened by ; the Governor of Istanbul in the presence of civil and I military officials and mem- 1 bers of the diplomatic corps. ’

Much more, however, remains behind “no entry” signs as the restoration continues. The harem will be one of the places visited by Queen Elizabeth when she visits Turkey next month.