Stunning tile in the Courtyard of the Eunuchs at the entrance of the Harem section of the Topkapı Palace. The Imperial Harem is the section of the Topkapı Palace where the most private apartments of the sultan are located. The Harem was home to the sultan's mother, the concubines and wives of the sultan, and the rest of his family, including children, their servants as well as the eunuchs guarding the harem. The Harem consists of a series of buildings and structures, connected through hallways and courtyards. Every service team and hierarchical group residing in the Harem had its own living space clustered around a courtyard. The Harem wing was only added at the end of the 16th century. The Topkapı Palace is a sprawling palace complex whose construction started in 1459--only six years after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul). It served as the official and primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856). The palace is a complex made up of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. At the height of its existence as a royal residence, the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people. Topkapı Palace gradually lost its importance at the end of the 17th century, as the Sultans preferred to spend more time in their new palaces along the Bosporus. In 1856, the court was moved to the newly built Dolmabahçe Palace.