Magnificent Century: Süleyman's Istanbul

The series opens with Suleiman learning of his father Selim's death and coming to Topkapı, and Hürrem arriving in the palace harem as a slave. For four seasons and 139 episodes this is the show's world: the corridors, the council, the hidden room from which Hürrem listens to the divan. The real Harem is a labyrinth of more than 400 rooms, but today's harem wing was added only at the end of the 16th century; many of its rooms were designed by Mimar Sinan. The show's harem is a set, not this one.

Visitor guidance: The Harem is a separate section inside Topkapı Palace; only a few of its rooms are open to visitors.

The show puts the harem inside Topkapı from the first episode, but until 1541 it was here, in the Old Palace in Beyazıt. The real building housed the sultan's mother, his concubines and wives, and their children while Topkapı was the seat of government. In 1541 a fire swept the Old Palace and Hürrem had the whole harem moved to Topkapı. Another fire in 1687 destroyed it for good. Nothing remains; the site lies between the Süleymaniye and Bayezid mosques.

Location precision: The Old Palace was destroyed in 1687; the pin marks its Beyazıt site between the Süleymaniye and Bayezid mosques.

Visitor guidance: The palace has left no trace; the site is in the Beyazıt area between the Süleymaniye and Bayezid mosques.

Hürrem's marriage to Suleiman around 1534 is one of the series' great scandals. Her first foundation stands in the Fatih district: a mosque, soup kitchen, madrasa, school and hospital, with the mosque completed in 1538–39 and designed by Mimar Sinan — his first imperial project. Hürrem probably paid for it with her dowry. The hospital, finished in 1550–51, was the earliest women's hospital in history. The complex was restored in 2010–2012.

Visitor guidance: The mosque and its courtyard are in the Fatih district; the complex was restored in 2010–2012.

In the series, Şehzade Mehmed, Hürrem and Suleiman's son, is murdered by Mahidevran's man Ilyas. History records a different end: he died at Manisa on 7 November 1543. Either way, Suleiman built this mosque as his memorial. Mehmed's tomb was finished first, in 1544; the mosque and complex followed between 1545 and 1548, one of Mimar Sinan's earliest important works. In the funerary garden south of the mosque lies Rüstem Pasha, Mihrimah's husband, under a smaller tiled tomb by the same architect. The mosque still stands on Istanbul's third hill.

Visitor guidance: The mosque is active; the mausoleums are in the funerary garden south of it.

Suleiman's own mosque was the climax of his building programme. After the Şehzade Mosque impressed him, he asked Mimar Sinan for something greater; the result was founded in 1550 and inaugurated in 1557, built on the site of the Old Palace. In the series, the dying Hürrem asks to be buried here, and in 1558 she is. Suleiman followed in 1566; his son Selim II built the sultan's tomb between 1566 and 1568. The mosque still stands on the Third Hill, looking over the Golden Horn.

Visitor guidance: The mosque is active; the tombs are in the cemetery behind the qibla wall.

Hürrem, the slave who became Suleiman's wife, paid for this double bathhouse for the worshippers of Hagia Sophia. Mimar Sinan built it in 1556: a 75-metre range of domed rooms with separate men's and women's sections. After years as a warehouse and a government carpet showroom, it was restored for US$11 million and reopened in May 2011. It now operates as a bathhouse again.

Visitor guidance: The bathhouse is open again; it reopened in May 2011.

In the final season Hürrem dies in Suleiman's arms and asks to be buried at the Süleymaniye. She died on 15 April 1558 and was laid in this octagonal tomb beside the mosque, its interior covered in Iznik tiles showing the garden of paradise. Her mausoleum stands next to Suleiman's; he joined her in 1566. The tombs are in the enclosed cemetery behind the qibla wall. Suleiman's mausoleum also holds his daughter Mihrimah.

Visitor guidance: The tomb is in the cemetery behind the Süleymaniye Mosque, next to Suleiman's mausoleum.

The palace in the series is a replica. Topkapı Sarayı was rebuilt at TEM studios in Hadımköy, on a 2,100-square-metre plateau; 30 sculptors and painters made full-size copies of the courtyard, the Altınyol, the Harem, the Hasoda, the Arz Odası, the Hünkâr Sofası and the kitchens, plus a ship simulation. With a budget of 130 million Turkish liras, it was the most expensive project on Turkish television. After filming, part of the set toured the world as an exhibition.

Location precision: The pin marks Hadımköy, the suburb where the TEM studios set stood; the palace itself was a set.