The Ottoman woman has particularly fascinated the Western audience for centuries. Issues like seclusion and harem, led many Europeans to endure the difficulties of travel and journeying to the Ottoman Empire in order to gain first-hand information on the Ottoman way of life. The aim of this study is to discuss and illustrate the visibility of Ottoman women through the eyes of European travellers and ambassadors in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Istanbul. Its main concern is to discuss women's ou