Friday, July 13, 2018

LITTLE HAGIA SOPHIA MOSQUE

Kumkapı, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'10.4"N 28°58'20.8"E / 41.002889, 28.972444



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 1

PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 2

Little Hagia Sophia (Turkish: Küçuk Ayasofya Camii), formerly the Church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus, is a former Eastern Orthodox church dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople, converted into a mosque during the Ottoman Empire.

This Byzantine building with a central dome plan was erected in the sixth century by Justinian, likely was a model for Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia), and is one of the most important early Byzantine buildings in Istanbul. It was recognized at the time as an adornment to the entire city, and a modern historian of the East Roman Empire has written that the church, "by the originality of its architecture and the sumptuousness of its carved decoration, ranks in Constantinople second only to St. Sophia itself".

The Küçük Ayasofya Mosque is identified as the Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, constructed by Justinian I (527-565) following his ascension to the throne and is often considered the pre-cursor to the Great Church of Hagia Sophia. It was built inside the sea walls along the Sea of Marmara and stood in close proximity to the Hormisdas Palace, Justinian's residence prior to his enthronement. Historical resources show that the church dedicated to the Sts. Sergius and Bacchus was built adjoining the north wall of an existing basilica dedicated to the Sts. Peter and Paul. The two churches shared a courtyard to the west and were surrounded by monastery buildings managed by the Monophysites.

Location
The building stands in Istanbul, in the district of Fatih and in the neighborhood of Kumkapı, at a short distance from the Marmara Sea, near the ruins of the Great Palace and to the south of the Hippodrome. It is now separated from the sea by the Sirkeci-Halkalı suburban railway line and the coastal road, Kennedy Avenue.

History

Byzantine period
According to later legend, during the reign of Justin I, his nephew Justinian had been accused of plotting against the throne and was sentenced to death, avoided after Saints Sergius and Bacchus appeared before Justin and vouched for Justinian’s innocence. He was freed and restored to his title of Caesar, and in gratitude vowed that he would dedicate a church to the saints once he became emperor. The construction of this Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, between 527 and 536 AD (only a short time before the erection of the Hagia Sophia between 532 and 537), was one of the first acts of the reign of Justinian I.

The new church lay at the border between the First and Τhird Regio of the City, in an irregular area between the Palace of Hormisdas (the house of Justinian before his accession to the throne) and the Church of the Saints Peter and Paul. Back then, the two churches shared the same narthex, atrium and propylaea. The new church became the center of the complex, and part still survives today, towards the south of the northern wall of one of the two other edifices. The church was one of the most important religious structures in Constantinople. Shortly after the building of the church a monastery bearing the same name was built near the edifice.

Construction of the new church began shortly before that of Hagia Sophia, built from 532 to 537. It was believed that the building had been designed by the same architects, Isidorus of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, as a kind of "dress rehearsal" for that of the largest church of the Byzantine Empire. However, the building is quite different in architectural detail from the Hagia Sophia and the notion that it was but a small-scale version has largely been discredited.

During the years 536 and 537, the Palace of Hormisdas became a Monophysite monastery, where followers of that sect, coming from the eastern regions of the Empire and escaping the persecutions against them, found protection by Empress Theodora. In year 551 Pope Vigilius, who some years before had been summoned to Constantinople by Justinian, found refuge in the church from the soldiers of the Emperor who wanted to capture him, and this attempt caused riots. During the Iconoclastic period the monastery became one of the centers of this movement in the City.

The nave is elaborately detailed with carved capitals, and the gallery entablature-inscribed with a poetic praise of Justinian and his wife, Theodora-has a delicate contour. To the west, the gallery joins an unadorned double-story narthex, separated only by a series of columns and piers. Three small bays, placed along the southern gallery, may have led into the adjoining Church Sts. Peter and Paul. This wall, as seen from the outside, is indeed the northern wall of the latter church that remains incorporated into the neighboring structure.

Ottoman period
After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the church remained untouched until the reign of Sultan Bayezid II. Then (between 1506 and 1513) it was transformed into a mosque by Hüseyin Ağa, the chief of the Aghas (Black Eunuchs), who were the custodians of the Bab-ı-Saadet (literally The Gate of Felicity in Ottoman Turkish) in the Sultan's residence, the Topkapı Palace. At that time the portico and madrasah were added to the church. In 1740 the Grand Vizier Hacı Ahmet Paşa restored the mosque and built the Şadırvan (ablution fountain). The fountain was later removed in 1938. In 1762 the minaret was first built. It was demolished in 1940 and built again in 1956.

Damaged in the earthquakes of 1648 and 1763, the complex was repair by Sultan Mahmud II in 1831. If anything had remained from adjoining Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, it was removed during the construction of a railroad passing immediately to the south of the mosque in the 1860s, transforming the topography of the site. The architecture of the former church, despite modifications to its doors and windows, has largely remained intact.

Hüseyin Ağa, the chief officer of the Ottoman Palace during the rule of Sultan Bayezid II (1481-1512), added the Ottoman narthex and built twenty-four zawiya cells enclosing the courtyard of the new complex, which he endowed with income from a nearby public bath and two hans near the Hagia Sophia. His tomb (türbe), built after his execution in 1510, lies in the walled cemetery that wraps around the north and east sides of the former church.

The pace of decay of the building, which already suffered because of humidity and earthquakes through the centuries, accelerated after the construction of the railway. Parts of St. Peter and Paul to the south of the building were demolished to accommodate the rail line. Other damage was caused by the building's use as housing for the refugees during the Balkan Wars.

Due to the increasing threats to the building's static integrity, it was added some years ago to the UNESCO watch list of endangered monuments. The World Monuments Fund added it to its Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in 2002, 2004, and 2006. After an extensive restoration which lasted several years and ended in September 2006, it has been opened again to the public and for worship.

Exterior Architecture
The complex is entered through three gates, north, south and west, which lead into a courtyard enclosed by the U-shaped zawiya on three sides. An inscriptive plaque located above the northern gate bears a saying of the Prophet. Located to the east of the courtyard, the mosque is entered through a five-bay classical Ottoman portico that precedes the narthex. Its central plan is composed of an octagon inscribed in a rectangle; the domed octagonal nave is outlined by a continuous gallery on two floors, which envelops the nave to the north, west and south.

The galleries terminate on either end of an apsidal sanctuary projecting to the east. Composed of sixteen ribs with eight windows, the nave dome is supported on eight wide arches that fall on eight heavy piers forming an octagon. The space between the piers is spanned by twenty-eight marble columns, two in each bay with the exception of the sanctuary, that form the double-story gallery. The upper gallery columns are interlaced with small arches and wooden balustrades.

Columns at the four corners of the nave are arranged to form semi-circular niches that are crowned with semi-domes at the upper gallery level. The nave is elaborately detailed with carved capitals, and the gallery entablature-inscribed with a poetic praise of Justinian and his wife, Theodora-has a delicate contour.

The exterior masonry of the structure adopts the usual technique of that period in Constantinople, which uses bricks sunk in thick beds of mortar. The walls are reinforced by chains made of small stone blocks. The building, the central plan of which was consciously repeated in the basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna and served as a model for the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan in the construction of the Rüstem Pasha Mosque, has the shape of an octagon inscribed in an irregular quadrilateral. It is surmounted by a beautiful umbrella dome in sixteen compartments with eight flat sections alternating with eight concave ones, standing on eight polygonal pillars.

The narthex lies on the west side, opposed to an antechoir. Many effects in the building were later used in Hagia Sophia: the exedrae expand the central nave on diagonal axes, colorful columns screen the ambulatories from the nave, and light and shadow contrast deeply on the sculpture of capitals and entablature. In front of the building there is a portico (which replaced the atrium) and a court (both added during the Ottoman period), with a small garden, a fountain for the ablutions and several small shops.

To the west, the gallery joins an unadorned double-story narthex, separated only by a series of columns and piers. Three small bays, placed along the southern gallery, may have led into the adjoining Church Sts. Peter and Paul. This wall, as seen from the outside, is indeed the northern wall of the latter church that remains incorporated into the neighboring structure. The mosque has a single minaret on the southwest corner, which dates from 1955.

Interior Architecture
Inside the edifice there is a beautiful two-storey colonnade which runs along the north, west and south sides, and bears an elegant inscription in twelve Greek hexameters dedicated to the Emperor Justinian, his wife, Theodora, and Saint Sergius, the patron-saint of the soldiers of the Roman army. For some unknown reason, Saint Bacchus is not mentioned. The columns are alternately of verd antique and red Synnada marble; the lower storey has 16, while the upper has 18. Many of the column capitals still bear the monograms of Justinian and Theodora.

Nothing remains of the original interior decoration of the church, which contemporary chroniclers describe as being covered in mosaics with walls of variegated marble. During the Ottoman conversion into a mosque, the windows and entrance were modified, floor level raised, and interior walls plastered.

The Küçük Ayasofya's interior is decorated and furnished as a mosque, with Arabic calligraphy and designs in blue painted on white walls. Originally, the walls and vault would have been completely covered in golden mosaics, like those that survive from this period in Ravenna, and probably frescoes as well.

Grounds
North of the edifice there is a small Muslim cemetery with the türbe of Hüseyin Ağa, the founder of the mosque.

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YENİ (CEDİT) VALİDE MOSQUE

Üsküdar - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'28.8"N 29°00'55.2"E / 41.024667, 29.015333



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The Yeni Valide Mosque is an Ottoman mosque in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul. Designed by Kayserili Mehmed Ağa, the chief architect of the palace, this mosque was built in 1710 on the decree of Sultan Ahmet III in memory of his mother, Emetullah Rabi'a Gülnış Sultan. It consists of a group of buildings, including a soup kitchen, a mausoleum, fountains, a clock room, a chamber for the Sultans, a market, etc. The social complex, bearing the touch of Classical Ottoman architecture, constitutes one of the female attributes of Üsküdar.

The complex was composed of a mosque in the center and a madrasah parallel to the mosque sharing the same courtyard, a dervish lodge that is on the left side of the mosque on the same street, a primary school, an imaret (soup kitchen), a caravansary, printing house, a school for Quran reciters, a Turkish Bath and a Daruşşifa, which was designed as a full-scale hospital. The treatment and needs of the patients admitted to the darüşşifa were funded by revenues from the land properties donated by Nurbanu Sultan.

Construction on this mosque began in 1708, and was completed in 1711, when the mosque first opened for prayers. The Yeni Valide Mosque is also known as the Valide-i Cedid. The main part of the building is square in shape and covered with a flattened main dome and four half domes. Calligraphy inside the mosque is the work of Hezarfen Mehmet Efendi.

This mosque boasts two minarets with two galleries apiece, as well as a notably serene courtyard, access to which can be found via five different gates. As the benefactor of this historic mosque, the Valide Sultan lies in her tomb - which itself is reminiscent of a paradisiacal garden - in the courtyard of the mosque. When you finally come to see this mosque, you might hear writer Yahya Kemal whisper in your ears, “As the years pass by, İstanbul, appears to have depth not just through land but through history.”

The clock room is to the right of the graveyard. This room has three walls and three windows, and it is the place where prayer times were determined for the mosques in Üsküdar. There are four birdhouses built into the walls of the mosque. In particular, the birdhouse consisting of three domes and two minarets that protudes on the upper walls, facing the stone bier, is a masterpiece of Turkish stonework.

Located on Hakimiyet-i Milliyet Street, the octagon mausoleum of white marble was designed in 1708-1711 by Mehmet Ağa, the chief architect of Tulip Era, in the form of a bird cage; Gülnüş Vâlide Sultan had wished for an open-air tomb. Near to the tomb there is a building where drinking water was served in cups as a form of charity. Above its windows there is an epitaph belonging to the famous Divan poet Naima.

Across from the Balaban gate of the mosque, to the left of the soup kitchens, is the Sineperver Vâlide Sultan fountain, built on the orders of the second wife of Sultan Abdülhamid I in memory of his dead son, Şehzade Ahmed. The fountain is in the Turkish Baroque style. Next to the soup kitchen, there is a market consisting of twelve shops, that are located both on the left and the right. It was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1794. Only a small part of it and the fountain have survived.

It was one of the last big complexes to go up in the city in the days when mosques formed the centerpieces in networks of social facilities, including schools and hospitals, known as külliyes. The mosque itself has been restored recently and is well worth a look, as is the Yeni Valide Camii, mere steps away across another busy road. If you leave the Yeni Valide Camii on the sea-facing side, you will emerge opposite the newly restored Cedid Valide İmareti (soup kitchen), with its twin domes and a very pretty corner fountain.

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ESKİ İMARET MOSQUE

Zeyrek, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'18.0"N 28°57'18.0"E / 41.021667, 28.955000



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

Eski Imaret Mosque (Turkish: Eski Imaret Camii) is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. The church has traditionally been identified with that belonging to the Monastery of Christ Pantepoptes. It is the only documented 11th-century church in Istanbul which survives intact, and represents a key monument of middle Byzantine architecture. Despite that, the building remains one among the least studied of the city.

The building lies in Istanbul, in the district of Fatih, in the neighbourhood of Zeyrek, one of the poorest areas of the walled city. It is located less than one kilometer to the northwest of the complex of Zeyrek. The building lies on a slope which overlooks the Golden Horn, and rests on a platform which is the ceiling of a cistern.

Some time before 1087, Anna Dalassena, mother of Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, built on the top of the fourth hill of Constantinople a nunnery, dedicated to Christos Pantepoptes, where she retired at the end of her life, following Imperial custom. The convent comprised a main church, also dedicated to the Pantepoptes. On April 12, 1204, during the siege of Constantinople, Emperor Alexios V Doukas Mourtzouphlos set his headquarters near the Monastery.

From this vantage point he could see the Venetian fleet under command of Doge Enrico Dandolo deploying between the monastery of the Euergetes and the church of St. Mary of the Blachernae before attacking the city. After the successful attack he took flight abandoning his purple tent on the spot, and so allowing Baldwin of Flanders to spend his victory night inside it.

From this vantage point he could see the Venetian fleet under command of Doge Enrico Dandolo deploying between the monastery of the Euergetes and the church of St. Mary of the Blachernae before attacking the city. After the successful attack he took flight abandoning his purple tent on the spot, and so allowing Baldwin of Flanders to spend his victory night inside it. The complex was sacked by the crusaders, and afterward it was assigned to Benedictine monks of San Giorgio Maggiore.

During the Latin occupation of Constantinople (1204-1261) the building became a Roman Catholic church. Based on this information, the Patriarch Constantius I (1830-1834) identified the Eski Imaret with the Pantepoptes church. This identification has been largely accepted since, with the exception of Cyril Mango, who argued that the building's location did not actually allow for complete overview of the Golden Horn, and proposed the area currently occupied by the Yavuz Sultan Selim Mosque as an alternative site for the Pantepoptes Monastery.

Austay-Effenberger and Effenberger agreed with Mango, and proposed an identification with the Church of St. Constantine, founded by the Empress Theophano in the early 10th century, highlighting its similarities to the contemporaneous Lips Monastery.

Immediately after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the church became a mosque, while the buildings of the monastery were used as zaviye, medrese and imaret for the nearby Mosque of Fatih, which was then under construction. The Turkish name of the mosque "the mosque of the old soup kitchen" refers to this. The complex was ravaged several times by fire, and the last remains of the monastery disappeared about one century ago.

Until 1970 the building was used as a koran school, and that use rendered it almost inaccessible for architectural study. In 1970, the mosque was partially closed off and restored. Despite that, the building appears to be in rather poor condition.  It is closely hemmed in all sides, making an adequate view of the exterior difficult. Its masonry consists of brick and stone, and uses the technique of recessed brick; it is the oldest extant building of Constantinople where this technique can be observed, which is typical of the Byzantine architecture of the middle empire.

Its masonry consists of brick and stone, and uses the technique of recessed brick; it is the oldest extant building of Constantinople where this technique can be observed, which is typical of the Byzantine architecture of the middle empire. In this technique, alternate coarses of bricks are mounted behind the line of the wall, and are plunged in a mortar bed. Due to that, the thickness of the mortar layers is about three times greater than that of the brick layers. The brick tiles on its roof are unique among the churches and mosques of Istanbul, which are otherwise covered with lead.

The plan belongs to the cross-in-square (or quincunx) type with a central dome and four vaulted crossarms, a sanctuary to the east and an esonarthex and an exonarthex to the west. This appears to be an addition of the Palaiologan period, substituting an older portico, and is divided into three bays. The lateral ones are surmounted by cross vaults, the central one by a dome. A unique feature of this building is the U-shaped gallery which runs over the narthex and the two western bays of the quincunx.

In this technique, alternate coarses of bricks are mounted behind the line of the wall, and are plunged in a mortar bed. Due to that, the thickness of the mortar layers is about three times greater than that of the brick layers. The brick tiles on its roof are unique among the churches and mosques of Istanbul, which are otherwise covered with lead. The plan belongs to the cross-in-square (or quincunx) type with a central dome and four vaulted crossarms, a sanctuary to the east and an esonarthex and an exonarthex to the west.

This appears to be an addition of the Palaiologan period, substituting an older portico, and is divided into three bays. The lateral ones are surmounted by cross vaults, the central one by a dome. A unique feature of this building is the U-shaped gallery which runs over the narthex and the two western bays of the quincunx. The gallery has windows opening towards both the naos and the crossarm. It is possible that the gallery was built for the private use of the Empress-Mother.

As in many of the surviving Byzantine churches of Istanbul, the four columns which supported the crossing were replaced by piers, and the colonnades at either ends of the crossarms were filled in. The piers divide the nave into three aisles. The side aisles lead into small clover-leaf shaped chapels to the east, connected to the sanctuary and ended to the east, like the sanctuary, with an apse. These chapels are the prothesis and diaconicon. The Ottomans resurfaced the apses and built a minaret, which does not exist any more.

The dome, which during the Ottoman period was given a helmet-like shape, recovered its original scalloped roofline in the restoration of 1970. This is typical of the churches of the Macedonian period. The tent-like roofing of the gallery has been also replaced with tiles that follow the curves of the vaulting.

The exterior has occasional decorative motifs, like sunbursts, meanders, basket-wave patterns and cloisonnés: the latter motif is typical of the Greek architecture of this period but unknown elsewhere in Constantinople. Of the original interior, nothing remains but some marble moldings, cornices, and doorframes. Despite its architectural significance, the building is still one among the least studied monuments of Istanbul.

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Tuesday, July 10, 2018

YAVUZ SELİM MOSQUE

Yavuzselim, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'37.0"N 28°57'04.0"E / 41.026944, 28.951111



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

The complex is located in the Yavuz Sultan Selim I neighbourhood of Fatih. This was one of the least accesible areas of the city with the Kırk Merdiven cliffs on one side and a deep cistern on the other. The Sultan Selim complex which was built by Suleiman the Magnificient in memory of his father, Yavuz Sultan Selim I, during the years 1516-1522 in the Sultan Selim area of the Fatih district on a hill which overlooks the Haliç (Golden Horn).

It consists of a  mosque, a soup-kitchen (imaret), a Sıbyan mektebi (Ottoman elementary-primary school), a darüşşifa (hospital), a Turkish bath, and a tomb. The buildings occupy the fifth hill of the historic peninsula, a prominent site adjoining the fifth century open air cistern Aspar.

Commissioned by Süleyman I (Kanuni, the Magnificent, 1520-1566) in honor of his late father Selim I (Yavuz Sultan Selim, 1512-1520), the Sultan Selim I Complex was completed in 1522, as stated on the inscriptive plaque on the mosque portal. Only the mosque, hospices, Quranic School and royal tombs remain from the larger complex that also included a hostel for pilgrims, a madrasa, double baths and soup kitchen. The soup kitchen to the north of the precinct was replaced by a girl's school in 1917; it contained a kitchen and stables.

The complex is located in an outer courtyard which rings the complex. The area designated for late-arriving worshippers is encircled by 18 columns and 22 domes. The 20 windows around the courtyard are covered with glazed tile panels, which are among the finest examples of the period. The portico of the courtyard is decorated with floral designs. A reservoir for ablutions is found in the centre of the courtyard. It is domed with eight marble pillars.

The mosque is situated in the middle of a large outer courtyard, and its enterance faces a cloistered inner courtyard that can be entered through three different directions from the outer courtyard, and which is encircled by 22 domes. There is an extraordinary fountain with eight columns located in the middle of the inner courtyard. The main area of the mosque is covered by a dome of 24.5 meters in diameter.

When both the size and height of the dome’s design are taken into a consideration, there is a clear attempt for it to dominate the main space of the mosque.. There is a respondent platform (müezzin mahfili), located on six small colums on the righthand side of the Harim (sanctum sanctorum) and an eye-pleasing Hünkar Mahfili (royal residence) is raised on eight columns on the left hand side.

The enclosed cemetery on the kiblah, or Mecca, side of the mosque contains of the remains of Yavuz Sultan Selim, the heirs of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent who died at a young age, his daughters and three tombs belonging to Sultan Abdülmecid. Of these, the window shutters, door, and wooden banister of the mausoleum belonging to Yavuz Sultan Selim are masterpieces in mother-of-pearl relief. Other than the mosque and mausoleum, the only structure which has survived to the present is the primary school, located in the outer courtyard.

Evliya Çelebi, a famous traveller and  historian, stated that cages with gilding in the royal residence had been added by Sultan Ibrahim (1615 – 1648). The inlaying used on tile panels, which are located on the door of qibla and on several window arches, adds to the artistic value to these elements. In addition, the inlaid marble pulpit and two minarets with single balconies attract the attention of visitors to this plain mosque.

There are two minarets with a single gallery each, and rooms on both sides of the mosque for the imam and müezzin. The shutters of the door are fine examples of engraving and mother-of-pearl relief. The mosque is square in shape and extremely simple in design. The pulpit is made of ornamented marble.

The enclosed cemetery on the kiblah, or Mecca, side of the mosque contains of the remains of Yavuz Sultan Selim, the heirs of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent who died at a young age, his daughters and three tombs belonging to Sultan Abdülmecid. Of these, the window shutters, door, and wooden banister of the mausoleum belonging to Yavuz Sultan Selim are masterpieces in mother-of-pearl relief. Other than the mosque and mausoleum, the only structure which has survived to the present is the primary school, located in the outer courtyard.

Commissioned by Sultan Süleyman I (Kanuni, the Magnificent, 1520-1566) in honor of his late father Sultan Selim I (Yavuz Sultan Selim, 1512-1520), the Sultan Selim I Complex was completed in 1522, as stated on the inscriptive plaque on the mosque portal. Only the mosque, hospices, Quranic School and royal tombs remain from the larger complex that also included a hostel for pilgrims, a madrasa, double baths and soup kitchen. The soup kitchen to the north of the precinct was replaced by a girl's school in 1917; it contained a kitchen and stables.

The mosque and its rectangular, walled precinct are aligned with qibla on the northwest-southeast axis. Three gates, located at the south corner (Türbe Kapısı), west corner (Çarşı Kapısı) and along the northwest wall, lead into the precinct. The mosque, with its cemetery, occupies the southeast end of the precinct and is composed of a single-domed prayer hall preceded by a large, arcaded courtyard and flanked by square hospice wings.

The mosque courtyard is entered from a main portal facing northwest, and two side portals. It is enveloped on three sides with an arcade of eighteen bays, continued with the six-bays of the prayer hall portico to the northwest. The bays of the arcade and portico are covered with domes, while the two bays adjoining the courtyard and prayer hall portals support lofty mirror vaults. An octagonal ablution fountain, covered with a domed canopy built by Sultan Murad IV (1623-1640), occupies the center of a courtyard, surrounded by four cypress trees. Grilled windows give views from the courtyard arcade onto the precinct; each window is adorned with a floral tile panel in its tympanum.

A muqarnas portal leads into the prayer hall, which measures twenty-four and a half meters per side - two bays shorter than the width of the portico. It is capped at thirty-two and a half meters by a single dome that rests on pendentives between four grand arches embedded in the walls. The interior is lit by four casement windows on each wall, which are topped by arched windows that display colored glass arabesques. Windows pierced at the base of the shallow dome are separated by buttresses on the exterior.

The exposed stone interior is decorated simply with inscriptive medallions bearing the names of God, the Prophet and Caliphs. Muqarnas carvings adorn the hood of the marble mihrab on the qibla wall, while the marble minbar to its right is carved with arabesque motifs highlighted in red, black and gold. The marble müezzin's platform (müezzin mahfili) abuts the southwest wall and is raised over six square pillars.

The large sultan's lodge, also of marble with eight precious columns, occupies the eastern corner of the prayer hall. It was constructed in the mid-sixteenth century, and is accessed only from the outside, with steps built into the northeast wall. Examples of period woodwork can be seen on doors, windowpanes and the ceiling below the sultan's lodge.

The hospice wings on either side of the prayer hall consist of nine domed bays that form a cross-shaped central hall and four corner rooms. The halls are entered from the prayer hall, or from the exterior. Two minarets with muqarnas balconies are attached to either end of the mosque portico where it meets the two hospice wings. The prayer hall, hospice and minarets were restored in 1930 and 1962, and most recently beginning in 2003.

Grilled windows give views from the courtyard arcade onto the precinct; each window is adorned with a floral tile panel in its tympanum. A muqarnas portal leads into the prayer hall, which measures twenty-four and a half meters per side - two bays shorter than the width of the portico. It is capped at 32,5 meters by a single dome that rests on pendentives between four grand arches embedded in the walls.

The interior is lit by four casement windows on each wall, which are topped by arched windows that display colored glass arabesques. Windows pierced at the base of the shallow dome are separated by buttresses on the exterior. The exposed stone interior is decorated simply with inscriptive medallions bearing the names of God, the Prophet and Caliphs. Muqarnas carvings adorn the hood of the marble mihrab on the qibla wall, while the marble minbar to its right is carved with arabesque motifs highlighted in red, black and gold.

The marble muezzin's platform (müezzin mahfili) abuts the southwest wall and is raised over six square pillars. The large sultan's lodge, also of marble with eight precious columns, occupies the eastern corner of the prayer hall. It was constructed in the mid-sixteenth century, and is accessed only from the outside, with steps built into the northeast wall. Examples of period woodwork can be seen on doors, windowpanes and the ceiling below the sultan's lodge.

It was built by taking samples of mosques in Edirne, and it is one of the last examples of a mosque with hostels. The mosque is situated in the middle of a large outer courtyard, and its enterance faces a cloistered inner courtyard that can be entered through three different directions from the outer courtyard, and which is encircled by 22 domes. There is an extraordinary fountain with eight columns located in the middle of the inner courtyard. The main area of the mosque is covered by a dome of 24.5 meters in diameter.

The mosque is located in an outer courtyard which rings the complex. The area designated for late-arriving worshippers is encircled by 18 columns and 22 domes. The 20 windows around the courtyard are covered with glazed tile panels, which are among the finest examples of the period. The portico of the courtyard is decorated with floral designs.

A reservoir for ablutions is found in the center of the courtyard. It is domed with eight marble pillars. There are two minarets with a single gallery each and rooms on both sides of the mosque for the imam and müezzin. The shutters of the door are fine examples of engraving and mother-of-pearl relief. The mosque is square in shape and extremely simple in design.

When both the size and height of the dome’s design are taken into a consideration, there is a clear attempt for it to dominate the main space of the mosque. There is a respondent platform (müezzin mahfili), located on six small colums on the righthand side of the Harim (sanctum sanctorum) and an eye-pleasing Hünkar Mahfili (royal residence) is raised on eight columns on the left hand side.

The mosque was built on a terrace overlooking the Cistern of Aspar, the largest of the three Roman reservoirs in Constantinople. The large courtyard (avlu) has a colonnaded portico with columns of various types of marble and granite. The mosque itself is decorated with very early examples of İznik tiles. The mosque is flanked by twin minarets.

The interior plan of the mosque is a simple square room, 24.5 meters on each side, covered by a shallow dome 32.5 meters in height. As with the Hagia Sophia, the dome is much shallower than a full hemisphere. The windows are decorated with lunettes of İznik tiles. To the north and south of the main room, domed passages led to four small domed rooms, which were intended to function as hospices for traveling dervishes.

Madrasah
On the Adnan Menderes Street, the madrasah was built by Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent for his father, Sultan Selim I. The 20 rooms of the madrasah, built by the Architect Sinan, surround the three sides of the courtyard. The madrasah’s classroom was transformed into a mosque in 1562 by adding a minaret.

Damaged in the fire of 1819, the minaret of the madrasah collapsed in 1942. The madrasah was abandoned after a fire while it was being used as soup kitchen in 1918. During the roadwork of Vatan Street in 1958, the madrasah was repaired and it functioned as the Turkish Calligraphy Museum between 1968 and 1980.

It was built by Mimar Sinan according to Tezkiretü’l-Ebniye, Tezkiretü’l Bünyan and Tuhfetü’l Mimarin which gives the list of artifacts of Mimar Sinan. There is no inscription which states the date of construction. But in sources it is stated that it was built in 1548-1549. The lecture hall was transformed to mescid (a small mosque) in 1562-1563 and a minaret and mimbar were added.

Madrasa was constructed with ashlar sandstone and brick in patches and was surrounded with walls. A monumental entrance was added to this wall’s front towards Aksaray and a fountain which has no tablet was added next to it. The courtyard is reached through a second port after this entrance which was covered with dome. Madrasa alcoves are lined up in U shape around this courtyard. The madrasa consists of nineteen alcoves and surrounds the three sides of the courtyard with an iwan.

Water-tank with a fountain in the middle of courtyard could not reach our day. Domed and hooped porches which were located on stone pillars in front of madrasa alcoves are combined each other with aspheric cinctures. The alcoves which are square planned are covered with pendentive domes. These alcoves are opened to porches via a door. They have three windows for each toward outside being two of them above and one below. Yashmaks of inner fireplaces have not reached our day. Tetragonal and hexagonal prismatic chimneys of fireplaces are shaped as leaded high cones.

Lecture room of madrasa is in direction of south-west and is slid towards symmetric axis of courtyard. Only its porch part is in courtyard and main body of the lecture room effused outside. Entrance porch of lecture room is covered with a hipped roof. A stalactite mihrab is located on the entrance of square planned lecture room. Two sub-windows and two top-windows are on four faces. The lecture room is covered with a pendentive dome and the passage to dome is provided via squinches. Inner adornment of its first construction has not reached our day.

Madrasa was damaged by a fire which was around after 1914, was used as soup kitchen in 1918 and was ruined by another fire in same year. Madrasa which came into the open during the making of Vatan Caddesi was restored by General Directorate of Foundations between 1958 and 1962. After that it was used as donation storage of Istanbul Principal Directorate of Foundations which consists of written works and carpets.

Royal Tombs
Four royal tombs are located in the cemetery behind the mosque's qibla wall. Made of cut stone, the tombs have octagonal plans and are covered with domes. The larger tomb of Yavuz Sultan Selim is distinguished by a portico with a shed roof carried on four columns. Past the wooden doors inlaid with mother of pearl is an entry vestibule adorned with two large tile panels. Its interior was repainted based on the original decorative scheme.

It contains the sarcophogus of Sultan Selim I (1465-1520), which is placed in the grave of the complex in the direction of the  qibla, and a white caftan is hung at the head of the sarcophogus. This famous caftan, which belonged to Sultan Selim I, was splashed with mud by a horse of İbni Kemal, who was a scholar of that period. There is a porch in the tomb decorated with panels of tiles of unique design. The doors and windows of the building are enriched with mother of pearls.

The tomb facing Yavuz Sultan Selim I to the northeast holds the graves of the three sons of  Sultan Süleyman I and two daughters of Sultan Selim I, and is known of the Tomb of Royal Princes (Şehzadeler Türbesi) where the three sons of Sultan Süleyman I and his two sisters and two daughters of Sultan Selim I were buried.

The tomb of Ayşe Hafsa Sultan (wife of Sultan Selim I and mother of Sultan Süleyman I) can be seen to the right next to the tomb of Sultan Selim I. The octagonal tomb that Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent ordered Sinan the Architect to build for his children who died in their early childhood dates to 1522. Tomb was damaged in the 1894 earthquake. Only remains of the walls of this tomb and iron bars of the windows survived till today .

The tomb of Sultan Abdülmecit, dated 1861, is the work of architect Garabet Balyan. Sultan Abdülmecit, who paid a special attention on Sultan Selim I, had the tomb shortened when he noticed his was higher. Beyond it is a similar tomb that holds the grave Sultan Abdülmecid, among others members of the royal family.

Caravanserai - Hospices
The low buildings adjacent to the minarets on the both side of the mosque are Tabhane (caravanserai - hospices). The hospice wings on either side of the prayer hall consist of nine domed bays that form a cross-shaped central hall and four corner rooms. The halls are entered from the prayer hall, or from the exterior. Two minarets with muqarnas balconies are attached to either end of the mosque portico where it meets the two hospice wings. The prayer hall, hospice and minarets were restored in 1930 and 1962, and most recently beginning in 2003.

Quranic School
The Quranic School (sibyan mektebi) is located on the northwest corner of the precinct, adjoining the Bazaar Gate (Çarşı Kapısı). It is single domed structure with a two-bay portico to its south. It has eight windows placed in two tiers on two walls. It was rebuilt after the 1918 fire and is currently used as a library.

Soup Kitchen
The imaret (kitchen) of the complex was destroyed in the earthquake of 1894 and the bath was destroyed over the course of time. Today, the building that was built by the Architect Kemaleddin on the imaret’s site in 1917 is Yavuz Selim Vocational High School for girls.

Sıbyan Mektebi
Sıbyan Mektebi, built at the entrance of outer courtyard, are the structures which still exist today.

Tabhane
The low buildings adjacent to the minarets on the both side of the mosque are Tabhane (caravanserai - hospices). The hospice wings on either side of the prayer hall consist of nine domed bays that form a cross-shaped central hall and four corner rooms. The halls are entered from the prayer hall, or from the exterior. Two minarets with muqarnas balconies are attached to either end of the mosque portico where it meets the two hospice wings. The prayer hall, hospice and minarets were restored in 1930 and 1962, and most recently beginning in 2003.

Primary School
The single domed primary school with a porch measuring 9.9 x 9.9 m was restored in 1960 after it had been ruined in the fire of 1918. The Quranic School (sibyan mektebi) is located on the northwest corner of the precinct, adjoining the Bazaar Gate (Çarşı Kapısı). It is single domed structure with a two-bay portico to its south. It has eight windows placed in two tiers on two walls. It was rebuilt after the 1918 fire and is currently used as a library.

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KEMANKEŞ KARA MUSTAFA PASHA MOSQUE

Karaköy, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'22.0"N 28°58'36.1"E / 41.022778, 28.976694



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There are so many distinctive religious sanctuaries to see in Karaköy, including both churches and synagogues. One more mosque that is definitely worth seeing is the one named after Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Paşa, who was the grand vizier during the reigns of Sultan Murad IV and Sultan Ibrahim. When climbing the stairs to the entrance of this mosque, you might notice the seals of Süleyman the Magnificent on either side of the door here.

He was a man who rose from the ranks of the janissaries to a high position in the Ottoman state, thanks to his many skills. And, known for his archery skills, he was nicknamed “kemankeş” meaning bowman or archer. Kemankeş Kara Mustafa Pasha (Black Mustafa Pasha the Archer in Turkish; 1592 - 31 January 1644) was an Ottoman military officer and statesman. He served as Kapudan Pasha and as grand vizier. His exploits came to an end, however, with execution.

In 1642, Mustafa Pasha converted a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul into a mosque named Odalar Mosque. According to Professor Semavi Eyice, the original church, a Byzantine one, was probably the Monastery of Philanthropos but was converted to the Latin cult and renamed Santa Maria di Constantinopoli during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II.

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NİŞANCI MEHMET PASHA MOSQUE

Nişanca, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'26.9"N 28°56'41.7"E / 41.024139, 28.944917



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Mehmet Pasha got the Architect Davut Ağa to build the Nişancı Mehmet Pasha (Cedit Nişancı) Mosque, located on Fatih Nişanca Street, between 1584 and 1588. According to some researchers, it is considered as the final work of Sinan the Architect. One of the rare Ottoman viziers who had Turkish origins, Nişancı Mehmet Ağa designed a calligraphic seal for Sultan Murat III, which can be seen on the entrance gate.

According to the inscription above the portal, the complex was commissioned by Nişancı "marksman" Mehmet Paşa (d.1592). Although the complex is widely accepted as a Architect Sinan monument, its name doesn't appear in Sinan's Book of Buildings (Tezkiret-ül Bünyan). Given that Sinan died in 1588, the complex, whose construction began in 1584 and ended in 1589, could have been completed by one of his former assistants, the architect Davut.

Originally built as a madrasa and a dervish lodge (tekke), the complex today comprises only a mosque with a fountain courtyard and a tomb.

The mosque, a stepped structure developed from a simple square plan, is located on the southeast of the complex. A five-bay portico, facing the fountain courtyard, is attached to the northwest side of the mosque. This courtyard, with approximate dimensions of 32 by 35 meters, is located northwest of the mosque and is surrounded on three sides by a twenty-bay portico. The tomb is attached to the east corner of this courtyard.

To the northeast is a secondary courtyard wall, which turns and extends to the east corner of the mosque. This wall, together with the cemetery, encircles the tomb and forms the street edge. The complex is entered from two opposing doors; the northeastern door, located in the middle of the tomb courtyard wall, leads to the door of the fountain courtyard that falls west of the tomb. The southwestern door, facing the street, leads directly into the fountain courtyard.

Entering the fountain courtyard, one stands before the five-bay portico of the mosque, which is roofed by four domes on its side bays and a mirror vault in the central bay. The dodecagonal fountain of the complex is placed northwest of the central bay, strengthening the qibla axis. The central bay of the portico is elevated, indicating the portal into the prayer hall. This portal contains has a shallow muqarnas carving and an inscription.

Entering from this portal, the visitor has a sensation of spaciousness, an impression that contrasts with the actual dimensions of the prayer hall. This feeling is created by the unique structural and spatial configuration of the Nişancı Mehmet Paşa Mosque, where Sinan brought elements of earlier design experiments together.

The mosque is made of cut stone, and the portico is a composite stone and brick structure. The Nisanci Mehmet Pasa is mostly unadorned, excepting the modest painted ornamentation within the prayer hall. A dome 14 meters in diameter, flanked by four larger and four smaller half-domes on the sides, surmounts the central space. The load from the upper structure is distributed through the octagonal drum to eight columns embedded in the walls of the prayer hall, enhancing the unity of the interior space.

The prayer hall extends to the projected iwans found between the paired columns, creating a gradual enlargement of the interior. The marble mihrab is located in the southeastern iwan projection. The stepped character of the interior space is visible on the qibla exterior elevation, while two rectangular rooms fill the corners of the prayer hall on the entrance elevation.

Topped by mirror vaults and used as guest rooms, these rooms are directly accessed from the prayer hall. On the opposite side, the stairs embedded on the two sides of the qibla wall lead to the upper speech platforms. The upper galleries are found along the three walls of the prayer hall, leaving the qibla wall blank.

The prayer hall is lit by two rows of casement windows, which are topped by a third row of arched windows. Each of the smaller half-domes has three, the larger half-domes have five, and the main dome is pierced by 25 windows, increasing the amount of light in the prayer hall. A door in the western corner of the prayer hall leads to the single-balcony minaret.

From a distance one sees the elegance of line and the masterly arrangement of the upper structure; the great dome surrounded by the eight little weight-turrets (the continuation of the columns that support the dome arches), the eight semidomes of two sizes, and the minaret unusually close to
the dome base - an excellently proportioned distribution of curves and verticals. One enters through the usual charming courtyard, the arches of which are of the ogive type; under the porch of five bays an inscription with the tuğra of Sultan Mustafa III.

The plan of the mosque is an interesting variation of the octagon inscribed in a square. Eight partly-engaged columns support the dome arches; in the axes there are four semidomes, while in the diagonals four smaller semidomes serve as squinches instead of pendentives. The eastern semidome covers a projecting apse for the mihrab, while those to north and south also cover projections from the square. The western corners of the cross so formed are filled with small independent chambers; above on three sides are galleries.

The whole arrangement is original and masterly; nor are interesting details wanting. In the corners of the east wall are two charming little kürsüs or platforms, access to which is gained by staircases built into the thickness of the wall from the window recesses. In the voussoirs and balustrades of these platforms, in the window frames, and elsewhere throughout the mosque, an interesting conglomerate marble of pale violet and grey is used; and for the columns which support both platforms and galleries there is another conglomerate marble of tawny brown flecked with yellow, gray, black and green.

The arches of the galleries, like those of the courtyard, are of the ogive type. As a whole, the mosque is a masterpiece; it is as if the unknown architect, in the extreme old age of Sinan, had decided to play variations on themes invented by Sinan himself and to show that he could do them as well as the Master. This basic unity of design is broken however by two cloister vaults covering the entrance and its neighbouring areas. The mosque gradually narrows in zigzags along the north-south axis with the effect of enhancing the kiblah (direction of Mecca).

The eyvan shaped plan created on the ground floor with the addition of two side rooms is masterfully integrated with the latecomers' area. Moreover, the opposition thus created between the mihrab and the latecomers areas does not hinder the spatial harmony of the interior. The dome, which is not very large, is easily supported by the zigzagging walls which function as buttresses. As for the south or kiblah facade, which had remained as massive as a buttress wall in many mosques until then, Sinan finally manages to give it the liveliness and portent it deserves. All these features indicate how important a stage this mosque represents in Sinan's development.

In the little graveyard behind the mosque is the small and unpretentious türbe of Nişancı Mehmet Paşa. The tomb is an octagonal structure surmounted by a dome. It is entered though the portal on the northeast, where a three-bay portico is attached to the elevation. The portico is surmounted by an eave and is carried over four columns. Under the portico, the sides of the entrance are ornamented with mihrab niches. All sides of the tomb, except that facing west, which is embedded in the arcade of the northeastern entrance of the fountain courtyard, feature a casement window with an arched window above it.

The tomb has an 8 cornered plan scheme and covered with a dome. The entrance is covered with a roof which is supported by four columns. The main walls of tomb are made of lime stone and marble is used around windows and columns. There are two rows of windows at seven facades; the upper row has stained glass. There are ornaments and carvings on dome and interior walls. The tomb is well preserved with having most of its original details. Only known repairs are minor repairs through 20th century.

According to records, the complex was damaged in the 1766 earthquake. The inscriptions near the portal niche describe a restoration in the period of Sultan  Mustafa III (1757-1774) by Şükrullah Efendi. A later restoration of the madrasa was undertaken in 1835, in the time of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839). The most recent restoration dates to 1958 and 1970, and was undertaken by the General Directorate of Religious Endowments.

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Monday, July 2, 2018

NURUOSMANİYE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Nuruosmaniye, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'38.0"N 28°58'14.0"E / 41.010556, 28.970556



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Nuruosmaniye Mosque Complex is an Ottoman mosque located in the Çemberlitaş neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul. It is considered one of the finest examples of mosques in Ottoman Baroque style. It was built by architects Mustafa Ağa and Simon Kalfa from the order of Sultan Mahmut I and completed by his brother and successor Sultan Osman III. The architects adopted Baroque architectural elements, the mosque is also distinctive with the absence of an ablution fountain (Turkish: şadırvan). Nuruosmaniye Mosque is located near the entrance to the Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar), Column of Constantine and the historical Atik Ali Paşa Mosque.

Nuruosmaniye Mosque Complex is located in Eminönü, north-west of the Çemberlitaş monument at the entrance to the Covered Bazaar. The construction of the complex was started by Sultan Mahmud I in 1749, but was not completed until a year after his death in 1755. The complex consists of a mosque, a medresse, a soup kitchen, a library, a mausoleum, a public fountain and fountain with a spout. It is in the Baroque style and includes the many shops that surround it.

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque is very distinctive from the point of view of Ottoman mosque architecture. Its three dimensional stone ornaments are unparalleled in world architecture and are a unique masterpiece of the Baroque style. It has a single dome encircled at its base with 32 windows. The mosque is illuminated by 174 windows. The most striking of the interior decorations are the lines of the walls and dome. There are two minarets each having two galleries. For the first time, a stone rather than lead crescent was used on top of the minarets.

The complex consists of a mosque (cami), madrasa (medrese), soup-kitchen (imaret), tomb (türbe), library (kütüphane) and water fountain or sabil (sebil), enclosed in an irreqular walled-in precinct, and a han and some stores (dükkan) built in the vicinity. The precinct is entered from two gates to the east and west. The western gate, called Carsikapisi or bazaar gate, opens into the covered bazaar with the sabil adjoining it.

The mosque, oriented along the northwest-southeast axis, occupies the northwest corner of the precinct, which is raised above street level on a tall basement. Beside it, at the northeast corner, are the library and the tomb. The madrasa and the soup kitchen are housed in a single structure that projects beyond the southern precinct wall. The accessory buildings are aligned loosely with the cardinal axis.

The medresse and soup kitchen are found to the north of the mosque, on the right as you enter the courtyard from the direction of the Covered Bazaar. They are placed in such a way as to give the courtyard the shape of a crescent. The fountain with spout is on the right as you enter from the direction of the Covered Bazaar to the left the public fountain. They are both in the Baroque style.

The foundation of the structure was supported by belts because it was constructed on a spring. It has an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard. There are three doors in the inner courtyard, one in the middle, two on each sides. Inner courtyard is covered by nine domes, one in the middle and four on each side.

Construction on the Nuruosmaniye Complex began in 1749 during the rule of Mahmud I (1730-1754) and was completed by his brother and successor Osman III (1754-1757) in 1755. It is located to the east of the covered bazaar and was built to replace the Mascid of Fatma Hatun, which burnt in a fire. In style, the complex is distinguished from its precedents with its adoption of baroque design elements and embodies the westernizing vision of Mahmud I.

While there is little known about its architect, Simeon Kalfa, its construction is documented in detail by construction manager Ahmed Efendi in a booklet entitled "Tarih-i Cami-i Şerif-i Nur-i Osmani". The name Nuruosmaniye, or the Light of Osman, is thought to refer to Osman III and to a verse from the Sura of Al-Nur, "God is the light of the heavens and the earth", which is inscribed inside the dome.

The mosque consists of a single domed prayer hall, preceded by a courtyard of comparable size to the northwest. The courtyard is entered through a main portal to the northwest and two side portals. It has a unique semi-elliptical shape created with the use of wedge-segments placed between nine domed bays; it is also distinctive with the omission of an ablution fountain. Windows placed at two levels provide views outside. There is no ablution fountain. The five-bay mosque portico completes the courtyard arcade and leads into the prayer hall through a central portal.

The prayer hall is square with a semi-circular mihrab apse and is crowned with a large dome 25 meters in diameter and raised to a height of 43.50 meters on four monumental arches. The interior space is activated by wide galleries that surround it on three sides. There are no aisles; the space below the galleries is an exterior arcade and is accessed through two side doors with cascading steps. At three different places - the entrance and the two corners flanking the qibla wall - the galleries are widened to form balconies that project into the prayer hall carried on columns. The corner balconies are deepened further with the inclusion of arcade space; the one to the east is the sultan's lodge and has gilted latticework between its columns. It is accessed primarily by a ramp outside the mosque that allowed the sultan to ascend to his quarters on his horse.

The tympana of the grand arches, equal in height to the galleries, are braced with smaller concentric arches that help strengthen the structure. At the qibla wall, the small arch is joined with the semi-dome that covers the mihrab apse. Sixteen windows in each tympanum light up the interior, in addition to the numerous casement windows at the ground and gallery levels. There are twenty-eight more windows at the base of the dome. With the exception of the casements, windows are made of interlacing pieces of colored and plain glass.

The interior of the mosque is covered with gray marble panels up to the galleries where a thick structural cornice, inscribed with the Sura of Al-Fath, adorns and braces the structure. Below the gallery, calligraphic medallions crown each casement window. The baroque influence is conveyed through the extensive use of sculptural elements such as pilasters and cornices, and baroque motifs, such as garlands, finials and scallops. Going beyond mere imitation, the Nuruosmaniye mosque achieves one of the finest instances of Ottoman baroque, a unique synthesis between classical Ottoman and contemporary western styles that is epitomized in the scallop muqarnas domes crowning its portals.

On the exterior, the silhouette of the mosque is marked by the tall dome and domed arches rising dramatically above the courtyard walls amidst the low-lying market neighborhood. The curved outlines of the baroque buttresses that anchor the dome at its corners and the thick cornice that crowns the grand arches, dominate the architectural expression. The two minarets, attached at either end of the mosque portico, have fluted shafts with two balconies and stone caps. The mosque is primarily constructed of cut stone.

Madrasa and Soup-Kitchen
The madrasa is built on a traditional plan, and has twenty domed rooms and a large classroom (dersane) enveloping an arcaded courtyard. The soup-kitchen adjoins it to the west and is about half the size of the madrasa. Entered through a domed entryway to the north, the soup-kitchen is organized around an inner courtyard that gives access to the kitchens to the south and a dining room to the west, with the madrasa wall bounding it to the east.

Library
The library is a single-story building set on a high platform accessed by two sets of stairs located to the west that lead into separate entryways. An Arabic inscription above the entrance states: "Demand science, from the cradle to the grave." It has a cross-plan with widely rounded corners and consists of an elliptical reading room enveloped by an arcade made of fourteen columns. An additional storage room projects between the two staircases to the west; there is also a full basement.

The reading room is covered by a dome flanked by two semi-domes, and the arcade spaces have cross vaults. Thirty windows, placed at two levels, illuminate the interior. The bulbous footprint of the library is enhanced on the exterior with the play of pilasters and moldings. Opened in 1755 with eighteen employees, the Nuruosmaniye Library is a branch of the Süleymaniye Library today and contains personal collections of Sultan Mahmud I and Sultan Osman III with a total of 7600 volumes of which 5052 are manuscripts.

Tomb
The tomb is located slightly to the south of the library and was originally intended for Sultan Mahmud I, who is buried in the Tomb of Valide Turhan Sultan. Şehsuvar Valide Sultan, the mother of Sultan Osman III, was buried here in 1756. The tomb is a single domed room, preceded by a three-bay domed portico to the west. Its exterior appearance is marked by the curved outline of the portico and the large weight turrets that flank the dome at its four corners.

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SADABAD (AZİZİYE) MOSQUE

Kağıthane, Şişli - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°04'11.8"N 28°57'46.4"E / 41.069944, 28.962889



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The Sadabad Mosque located on the shore of the Kağıthane creek is also known as the Çağlayan Mosque or the Aziziye Mosque. The first mosque on the site of the mosque re-built during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz had been constructed during the Tulip Period, in 1722.

The initial building had been renovated two times, during the reigns of Sultan Selim III and Sultan Mahmud II, and finally it was re-built by Sultan Abdülaziz in 1862. This is the present-day building. Its architect is Sarkis Balyan, who designed and constructed it together with his brother Agop Balyan.

The minaret of the mosque has two stone stairways, each of which has hundred steps. As it is the case in the Selimiye Mosque built in Edirne by Architect Sinan two persons can climb here to the balcony without seeing each other.

This mosque has two ports, named the Hünkar (Sultan) and the Vezir (Vizier). So to say, they curl towards the front of the mosque, in order to lead the community to the mosque.

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BAYRAM PAŞA COMPLEX

Haseki, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'31.9"N 28°56'34.4"E / 41.008861, 28.942889



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Located on Haseki Sultan Street, the Bayram Pasha Complex was built by architect Kasım Ağa in 1634. Bayram Pasha became one of the grand viziers of Sultan Murat IV in 1636. Bayram Pasha had become Kaymakam (head official of a disrict) of İstanbul in1635.

Leaving Column of Arcadius , we continue on along Haseki Kadın Sokağı to the end of the street. There we come to the külliye of Bayram Paşa, which is divided by the street itself; on the right are the medrese and mektep, and on the left the mescit, tekke, türbe, and sebil. An inscription on the sebil gives the date of construction as A.H. 1044 (A.D. 1634). At that time Bayram Paşa was Kaymakam, or Mayor, of the city; two years later he became Grand Vezir and soon after died on Sultan Murat IV’s expedition against Baghdad.

Bayram  Pasha was also a damat (groom) of the palace. In Ottoman tradition, the daughters and sisters of the sultans usually married to viziers. But Bayram's case was an exception because Bayram was married to Hanzade, the sister of the reigning Sultan Osman II (1618-1622) while he was still a turnacıbaşı. The reason of this exceptional marriage was probably Bayram's fame as a very handsome man. Osman II reserved a palace for the newly wed couple.

At the corner to the left is the handsome sebil with five grilled openings; behind it is the really palatial türbe of the founder, looking rather like a small mosque. (It is said to have fine and original tiles; unfortunately it is shut up and inaccessible.) At the far end of the enclosed garden and graveyard stands the mescit surrounded on two sides by the porticoed cells of the dervish tekke.

The mescit, is a large octagonal building which served also as the room where the dervishes performed their music and dance ceremonies. The whole complex is finely built of
ashlar stone in the high classical manner and the very irregularity of its design makes it singularly attractive.

The restoration of the kulliya has been sponsored by the Istanbul governor's office and the metropolian municipality. Bayram Pasha, who commissioned the kulliya to Architect Kasım Ağa in 1635, was the vizier of Sultan Murad IV. Bearing the characteristics of Ottoman architecture, it is the only vizier kulliya in Istanbul to have reached our age intact from the reign of Sultan Murad IV.

The Bayram Pasha Kulliya in Istanbul's Haseki district is again open to the public. With the exception of the primary school, the madrasah, tomb, fountain and the shops are in good condition.

Tomb
Bayram Pasha (died 26 August 1638) was an Ottoman grand vizier. Bayram Pasha lies alone within the tomb built of cut kufeki stone, with an iwan and single dome.

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