Also known as the Privy Chamber (Has Oda), this suite of rooms in the heart of the Third Courtyard holds the most sacred treasures of the Islamic world: the Holy Relics (Mukaddes Emanetler). After the conquest of Egypt in 1517 by Sultan Selim I, the guardianship of Islam’s holiest sites passed to the Ottoman Sultans, and with it came these revered objects, including the mantle, sword, and sacred banner of the Prophet Muhammad.
This chamber, once the private apartment of Mehmed the Conqueror, was transformed into the spiritual heart of the empire. It is a place of profound reverence, where for centuries, the Quran has been recited continuously, day and night, without interruption. The relics themselves, displayed in magnificent golden reliquaries, are not merely historical artifacts; they are tangible links to the Prophet and the spiritual foundation upon which the Ottoman Sultan’s authority as Caliph of the Muslim world was built.