Seraglio - Wikipedia Seraglio From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Living quarters of Ottoman wives and concubines This article is about a term. For the domestic space reserved for women, see Harem. For the Ottoman royal harem, see Imperial Harem. The gate of a seraglio, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul An illustration of the women's quarters in a seraglio, by John Frederick Lewis Main entrance to a hall in a seraglio Sultan Selim III holding an audience in front of the Gate of Felicity, by Konstantin Kapıdağlı, Topkapı Palace, Istanbul A seraglio (/səˈræljoʊ/ sə-RAL-yoh or /səˈrɑːljoʊ/ sə-RAHL-yoh) or serail is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in an Ottoman household. The term harem is a generic term for domestic spaces reserved for women in a Muslim family, which can also refer to the women themselves. The Ottoman Imperial Harem was known in Ottoman Turkish as Harem-i Hümâyûn. Contents 1 Etymology 2 In Ottoman culture 3 In Italy 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Etymology[edit] The etymology of this Italian word is unclear. The Italian Treccani dictionary gives two derivations:[1] one from Turkish saray,[2][3] from Persian saraʾi (سرای‎),[4] meaning palace, or the enclosed courts for the wives and concubines of the harem of a house or palace, the other (in the sense of enclosure for wild animals) from Late Latin: serraculum, derived from serare, to close, which comes from sera,[5] a door-bar.[6] In Ottoman culture[edit] In the context of the turquerie fashion, the seraglio became the subject of works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's Singspiel, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio). In Montesquieu's Persian Letters, one of the main characters, a Persian from the city of Isfahan, is described as an occupant of a seraglio.[citation needed] "The Seraglio" may refer specifically to the Topkapı Palace, the residence of the former Ottoman sultans in Istanbul (known as "Constantinople in English at the time of Ottoman rule). The term can also refer to other traditional Turkish palaces—every imperial prince had his own—and other grand houses built around courtyards.[citation needed] In Italy[edit] In modern Italian the word is spelled serraglio. It may refer to a wall or structure for containment, for example of caged wild animals; or for defence, such as the Serraglio of Villafranca di Verona, a defensive wall built by the Scaligeri.[7] The ghettoes established in many Italian cities following the promulgation by Pope Paul IV in 1555 of the papal bull Cum nimis absurdum were initially called serraglio degli ebrei, "enclosure of the Jews".[8] The Seraglio is also an artificial island on which Mantua is located. See also[edit] Caravanserai, another word involving saray, is an inn or rest stop for caravans Sarayburnu (also known as Seraglio Point) Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon, now the office of the prime minister of Lebanon Imperial Harem Harem The Abduction from the Seraglio, opera singspiel by Mozart Zenana References[edit] ^ "Serraglio", in Treccani: Vocabolario on line. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. (in Italian) Accessed May 2013. ^ Sarah Fielding. "Dictionary.com". Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved 2014-08-11. ^ "TheFreeDictionary". TheFreeDictionary. Retrieved 2014-08-11. ^ Harper, Douglas. "seraglio". Online Etymology Dictionary. ^ "sĕra", entry from Lewis & Short. Latin Word Study Tool, Perseus. Accessed May 2013. ^ Macdonald, A. M. (ed.) (1972) Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary London: Chambers ISBN 055010206X; p. 1235 ^ "Serraglio1", in Treccani: Vocabolario on line. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. (in Italian). ^ Debenedetti-Stow, Sandra (1992). "The Etymology of "Ghetto": New Evidence from Rome". Jewish History 6 (1/2), The Frank Talmage Memorial Volume: 79–85 (subscription required) External links[edit] Look up seraglio in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seraglio. Allaboutturkey.com Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seraglio&oldid=981129361" Categories: Ottoman culture Harem Buildings and structures of the Ottoman Empire Concubines of the Ottoman Empire Concubines Hidden categories: Pages containing links to subscription-only content Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles containing Persian-language text Articles containing Latin-language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2014 Commons category link from Wikidata Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Brezhoneg Català Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto Français Galego Ido Latviešu Norsk bokmål Norsk nynorsk Română Suomi Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 30 September 2020, at 13:19 (UTC). 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