The Fruit Room at the Topkapi Palace

The Fruit Room at the Topkapi Palace

The fruit room, aptly called due to its decorative motif, is an additional chamber added onto the Topkapi Palace harem in 1705 for Sultan Ahmet III. During the 16th century, Sultan Murad III moved the sultan’s private living quarters from the third courtyard to the harem, where the prolific architect Sinan redesigned the sultan’s new residential quarters, including his privy room. While Murad III’s privy room was decorated with traditional Islamic and Ottoman elements, including floral Iznik tile designs and Qur’ānic verses in calligraphy, Ahmed III deviated from this decorative scheme, instead opting for more pictorial representation for his dining room. The fireplace remains partially embedded in a more abstract decorative tradition, yet the room as a whole shows the beginning of Western Baroque as well as Mughal influences. The overall aesthetic of the room is also associated with the Ottoman Tulip Age, which came out of Sultan Ahmed’s affinity for the flowers.