thumb|A hall in the Seraglio ([[Topkapı Palace), Istanbul]]
thumb|Sultan [[Selim III holding an audience in front of the Gate of Felicity, by Konstantin Kapıdağlı, Topkapı Palace]]
right|thumb|Ottoman officers in front of the [[Al-Karak Saray in 1910, following the Karak revolt.]]
A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from , via Turkish, Italian and French) is a castle, palace or government building which was considered to have particular administrative importance in various parts of the former Ottoman Empire.
"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.
Etymology
The term seraglio, from Italian,
In Italy
In modern Italian the word is spelled . It may refer to a wall or structure, either for defence — such as the Serraglio of Villafranca di Verona, a defensive wall built by the Scaligeri — or for containment, for example of caged wild animals.
Seraglio is also the name of the artificial island on which Mantua is located.
In literature and the arts
In the context of the fashion, the seraglio became the subject of works of art, the most famous perhaps being Mozart's 1782 Singspiel, (The Abduction from the Seraglio), based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's 1781 (Belmonte and Konstanze, or The Abduction from the Seraglio). In Montesquieu's 1721 Persian Letters, one of the main characters, a Persian from the city of Isfahan, is described as an occupant of a seraglio.
Homophones
Saraya is also used as a military unit title in the Arab world. In this case, the Arabic is , a different word from "saraya" (), as in a building. The etymology of the two terms also differs: is from Arabic and communicates the idea of a "private group". However, the plural is (saraya), indistinguishable from the term "saraya" which is a variant (in the singular) of saray (the building).
The normal translation for is company (military unit), but in the case of the Lebanese Resistance Saraya the term is often arbitrarily translated as brigades.
Another example is the Syrian Defense Saraya.
See also
- 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
- The Abduction from the Seraglio, opera singspiel by Mozart
- Ottoman court
Notes and references
Notes
References
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Bibliography
ar:سراي