Beyond tiles, the Harem is full of smaller crafts that are easy to walk past: coloured glass in the windows, inlaid doors and gilded plaster. We stopped at these on 26 July 2026, and this article collects our photographs and notes.
First-hand note: These pictures come from our own camera roll, from the afternoon of 26 July 2026. Nothing here is a stock or museum image. Faces were removed in editing.
Stained glass under the dome
The windows in one domed room use coloured glass in a pattern of red, yellow, green and blue. Above them, the dome carries gold painted decoration on a dark ground. Below them, a band of white calligraphy runs across blue tile. Our notes say the verses on the Harem walls speak plainly to the people who lived there. We did not read the inscriptions ourselves, so we do not quote them.
Colour and fabric
The hangings, seats and cushions in the rooms we saw used gold, silver, burgundy, blue and emerald green. Together with the tile and the glass, it made the rooms feel richly layered.
A mother-of-pearl door
The inlaid doors were the detail we studied longest. This one is made of small geometric pieces of mother-of-pearl and, as we noted at the time, tortoiseshell, set in a dark wood frame. The triangles and stars repeat across each panel. Up close the pieces are tiny, and the pattern only reads as a whole when you step back.
How to see these details
- Look up as well as around. The glass and the painted dome are above eye level.
- Check the doors and shutters while you wait for a gap in the crowd.
- Move slowly past the inlaid doors, because the pieces are small and the pattern changes as the light moves.
Where to go next
Read on: the Iznik tile panels, the great hall, the women who lived here.
Frequently asked questions
Is the stained glass original?
We cannot say. We photographed what we saw and did not find a label that gave the date of these windows.
What is the blue band under the windows?
It is calligraphy in white on blue tile. Our notes say the Harem walls carry verses from the Qur’an.
