One of many shots I took in the Imperial Hall, built after 1585 by Chief Architect Davud Agha, but undergoing many changes over the centuries due to fires and miscellaneous repairs. It served as the sultans’ venue for ceremonies and audiences. Here also the imperial household would meet for entertainment, wedding, birth ceremonies, and where members of the harem offered their congratulations upon his enthronement, as well as on religious holidays. It is crowned by the largest dome in de palace, and housed a baldaquin covering the sultan’s throne as well as a gallery where female members of the household, most notably the queen mother, would sit.
Tile inscriptions date from after a 1665 fire, blue and white Dutch tiles and rococo decorations date from the mid-eighteens’ reign of Sultan Osman III. The ornamentation on the dome, arch and pendentives date from the original construction. Wooden arches in the portico and windows are in baroque style.