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Seraglio

 

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Seraglio



 
 
A seraglio (also serraglio) is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
 household, from an Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 variant of Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
 saray (????) , meaning "palace", "enclosed courts". The term "harem
Harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in a usually polygyny household and their quarters which is enclosed and forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and came to the Western world via the Ottoman Empire....
" is also used to refer to these sequestered living quarters, but has additionally come to refer to the entire sequestered household of women.

In the context of the turquerie
Turquerie

Image:Suleiman Agostino.JPGTurquerie is the Orientalism fashion for imitating aspects of Turkish culture art and culture in Western Europe between roughly the 16th to 18th centuries....
 fashion, the seraglio became the subject of works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's Singspiel
Singspiel

Singspiel is a form of German language music drama, regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, sometimes performed over music, interspersed with Musical ensemble, popular songs, ballads and arias ....
, Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Die Entf?hrung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German language libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie....
 (The Abduction from the Seraglio).

"The Seraglio" may refer specifically to the Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace or in Ottoman Turkish language: ?????? ?????, usually spelled "Topkapi" in English)is a palace in Istanbul, Turkey, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans, from 1465 to 1853....
, the residence of the former Ottoman Sultans in Istanbul
Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, and List of cities proper by population in the world with a population of 12.6 million....
.






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A seraglio (also serraglio) is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
 household, from an Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 variant of Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
 saray (????) , meaning "palace", "enclosed courts". The term "harem
Harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in a usually polygyny household and their quarters which is enclosed and forbidden to men. It originated in the Near East and came to the Western world via the Ottoman Empire....
" is also used to refer to these sequestered living quarters, but has additionally come to refer to the entire sequestered household of women.

In the context of the turquerie
Turquerie

Image:Suleiman Agostino.JPGTurquerie is the Orientalism fashion for imitating aspects of Turkish culture art and culture in Western Europe between roughly the 16th to 18th centuries....
 fashion, the seraglio became the subject of works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's Singspiel
Singspiel

Singspiel is a form of German language music drama, regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, sometimes performed over music, interspersed with Musical ensemble, popular songs, ballads and arias ....
, Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Die Entf?hrung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German language libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie....
 (The Abduction from the Seraglio).

"The Seraglio" may refer specifically to the Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace or in Ottoman Turkish language: ?????? ?????, usually spelled "Topkapi" in English)is a palace in Istanbul, Turkey, which was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans, from 1465 to 1853....
, the residence of the former Ottoman Sultans in Istanbul
Istanbul

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, and List of cities proper by population in the world with a population of 12.6 million....
. The term can also refer to other traditional Turkish palaces (every imperial prince had his own) and other grand houses built around courtyards.

See also

  • Imperial Harem
    Imperial Harem

    The Imperial Harem or Harem was one of the most important powers of the Ottoman Empire court. Beginning in the 16th century and extending into the 17th, the Harem effectively controlled the Ottoman Empire ....
  • Caravanserai
    Caravanserai

    A caravanserai was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information, and people across the network of trade routes covering Asia, North Africa, and South-Eastern Europe....
    , another word involving saray, is an inn or rest stop for caravans.


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