Dome

Harem, Courtyard of the Favorites and housing area of the harem women, frontal view of the north wall of the court, showing a single bay; The next major additions to the Topkapi Palace (Second Court) took place under Suleyman (reigned 1520-1566), when certain ceremonial parts of the palace were rebuilt on a larger scale, and the palace infrastructure was enlarged to support the burgeoning administrative bureaucracy of the empire. Major additions, evidently completed under the supervision of the Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha, included the building of the Council Hall (Divan) and the neighbouring Inner Treasury in the Second Court. Under Selim II (reigned 1566-1574) the great Ottoman architect Sinan built his first important additions to the palace. New baths for the Sultan were erected and decorated with Iznik polychrome tiles of the highest quality. In 1574, after the kitchens in the Second Court were destroyed by fire, Sinan began the gigantic kitchens that still constitute the largest single structure in the palace. Other additions made to the Harem in this period were substantially altered later. In the reign of Murad III (1574-1595) the palace attained its present form with the construction (date uncertain) by Sinan of the Privy Chamber (now known as the Chamber of the Sacred Mantle). Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 1/28/2008)