Topkapi Palace - Third Courtyard
The third courtyard of Topkapi Palace is also known as as Enderun Courtyard and this where sultan would spend most of his time. This courtyard is 100 meters in width and 90 meters in length. Upon entering the courtyard from the Gate of Felicity, the first building one sees is the Audience Chamber (Arz Odası) stood at the centre of the courtyard.
Audience Chamber
Audience Chamber, also known as Audience Hall is right behind the Gate of Felicity. This square building is an Ottoman kiosk, surrounded by a colonnade of 22 columns. This is where the sultan received his viziers after the Divan meetings (Imperial Council) in the second Courtyard. Sultans also used to receive ambassadors of foreign states in this chamber. A corridor runs around the Audience Chamber, this room is dating from the 15th century, and further decorated under Suleiman I.
A corridor runs outside the Treasury Room and the rooms behind this corridor used to house collection of works of art, jewelry, heirlooms of sentimental value and money belonging to the Ottoman rulers.
Sultan Mehmed II Pavilion or Conqueror’s Hall
Halls of the Conqueror’s Pavillon is one of the oldest buildings inside the palace. The pavilion is made up of four main rooms and has a central roofed hall with an ablution fountain and a semi-open portico. The overseer of the Treasury Dormitory and of the Inner Palace Treasury was called the “hazine kethudası”.
Library of Ahmed III
The Library of Ahmed III is located directly behind the Audience Chamber and it was built in 1779. The Library of Sultan Ahmed III Also known as the Inner Palace Library owing to its location in the courtyard where the palace’s inner circle resided. It is consisted of three domed areas.
Pavilion of the Holy Mantle
The Privy Room, built during the time of Sultan Mehmed II as the sultan’s private apartments on the courtyard of the Inner Palace, is a two-storey structure. It houses the Holy Mantle and the collcection of the sacred relics, brought to the palace after the conquest of Egypt by Sultan Selim, the Grim in 1517.
Agalar Mosque
It takes its name from the highest ranking white eunuchs who were in charge of various branches of the Palace School. A 15th century school was used by the sultan, the white eunuchs, and the pupils of the Inner Palace school and they would come to pray here in this mosque.
