ŞEHZADE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Şehzadebaşı, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'51.0"N 28°57'25.0"E / 41.014167, 28.956944



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The Şehzade Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Şehzadebaşı neighborhood of district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It is sometimes referred to as the “Prince's Mosque” in English. Located on the main artery connecting Beyazit to Edirnekapı, the site is bounded by the Divanyolu boulevard to its south and the Valens aqueduct, constructed during the Roman era, to its north. Its west side borders a park along Atatürk boulevard adjacent to Saraçhane Square. Overall, the site measures approximately 240 meters wide east to west and 160 meters long north to south.

The Şehzade Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Süleyman I in memory of his eldest son by Hürrem, Prince Mehmet, who died of smallpox at the age of 21 in 1543, though the cause for his death is disputed. It was the first major commission by the Imperial Architect Mimar Sinan, and was completed in 1548. It is considered by architectural historians as Sinan's first masterpiece of classical Ottoman architecture.

According its Persian inscription Şehzade Mosque and Complex was built by Imperial Architect Mimar Sinan between 1543 and 1548, on behalf of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent’s son by Hürrem, Şehzade Mehmet, who died of smallpox at the age of 21 in 1543 in Manisa. The general opinion is the Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent had started the construction on his own behalf; however, he dedicated this complex to his favourite son, who died in 22.

Şehzade complex (Külliye) consists of the mosque, the tomb (türbe) of Prince Mehmet (which was completed prior to the mosque), two Qur'an schools (medrese), a public kitchen (imaret) which served food to the poor, and a caravansarai. The mosque and its courtyard are surrounded by a wall that separates them from the rest of the complex.

Exterior Architecture
The mosque is surrounded by an inner colonnaded courtyard (avlu) with an area equal to that of the mosque itself. The courtyard is bordered by a portico with five domed bays on each side, with arches in alternating pink and white marble. At the center is an ablution fountain (şadırvan), which was a later donation from Sultan Murat IV. The two minarets have elaborate geometric sculpture in low bas-relief and occasional terracotta inlays.

The mosque itself has a square plan, covered by a central dome, flanked by four half-domes. The dome is supported by four piers, and has a diameter of 19 meters and it is 37 meters high. It was in this building that Sinan first adopted the technique of placing colonnaded galleries along the entire length of the north and south facades in order to conceal the buttresses.

Interior Architecture
The interior of the Şehzade Mosque has a symmetrical plan, with the area under the central dome expanded by use of four semidomes, one on each side, in the shape of a four leaf clover. This technique was not entirely successful, as it isolated the four huge piers needed to support the central dome, and was never again repeated by Sinan. The interior of the mosque has a very simple design, without galleries.

Complex
The complex is composed of several distinct structures within a polygonal walled perimeter. Şehzade complex (Külliye) is situated between Fatih Sultan Mehmet II and Sultan Bayezid II complexes. The Külliye consists of the mosque, and six unique mausolea (türbe) ( 1 of Prince Mehmet (which was completed prior to the mosque), two Qur'an schools (medrese), tabhane, elementary school, cemetery, a public kitchen (imaret) which served food to the poor, and a caravansarai.

The mosque and its courtyard are surrounded by a wall that separates them from the rest of the complex. Construction of the complex began in 1544 CE (AH 951) and was largely completed by 1549 CE (AH 956).

The complex is composed of several distinct structures within a polygonal walled perimeter. Overall, the site measures approximately 240 meters wide east to west and 160 meters long north to south. The mosque is located at the center of the walled site, surrounded by gardens and pathways leading to other buildings within the complex. The mosque is accessible from the north, south, and west via five primary entrances; three portals open into the avlu and two into the prayer hall. The qibla wall forms the eastern elevation of the mosque.

The plan of the mosque is composed of two adjacent squares, each measuring forty-two meters to a side. The western half of the mosque forms an avlu, a square central courtyard surrounded by a row of vaulted portico bays accented with white and pink marble voussoirs. The avlu is notable as the first example in Ottoman architecture of the use of an open-air portico, instead of enclosed galleries, as the surround for a mosque courtyard.

The octagonal marble ablution fountain in the center of the courtyard was donated after the original construction of the complex by Sultan Murat IV (1612-1640 CE / AH 1021-1050). At the center of the east wall of the avlu is a recessed portal leading into the prayer hall, topped by elaborate carved muqarnas.

The mosque's two minarets rise above the northeast and southeast corners of the avlu at the northwest and southwest corners of the prayer hall. The enclosed stairways of the minarets are accessed from small portals on the exterior of the mosque. The shafts of the twin minarets feature ornate decorative sculpture in the form of geometric bas-reliefs and inlaid terracotta panels.

The eastern half of the mosque is the enclosed prayer hall. The prayer hall features a symmetrical, centrally focused plan, as did many of Sinan's mosques. Just as in the portico to the west, the plan of the hall is organized according to a five aisle by five row grid, in which domed bays along the perimeter form a square border around a larger three bay by three bay space at the center. The corner bays are each slightly under eight meters square, while the bays along the center of each wall are approximately twenty-two meters long and eight meters deep.

Four massive pillars are located at the corners of the large central bay, whose interior spans nineteen meters square. The pillars each measure close to five meters square to provide support for the massive arches that frame the edges of the central bay. These four arches are flanked by semi-domes that cover the central bays along each wall of the prayer hall. The four arches also provide support for a nineteen-meter-wide dome that springs from pendentives over the center of the prayer hall.

The central dome rises to a maximum height of thirty-seven meters, suggesting a spherical space in section. Three-meter-deep galleries line the exteriors of the north and south walls to conceal large buttresses that provide additional structural support for the heavy central dome.

The interior is primarily of white stone, with polychrome Iznik tile work in radial geometric patterns at the centers of each dome and semi-dome of the ceiling, as well as within triangular panels on the squinches and pendentives. The voussoirs are finished in a pattern of alternating red and white stones to draw attention to the large arches supporting the roof. A large circular iron chandelier is suspended from the central dome above the red carpeted floor. The mihrab niche is surmounted by muqarnas and surrounded by large stained-glass windows.

Entrances to the prayer hall are located at the center of its north, west, and south walls, while the mihrab niche occupies the center of the east qibla wall. The minbar is located four meters to the south of the mihrab niche along the qibla wall. As the four pillars at the center of the support much of the load of the domed roof structure, the exterior walls have relatively little load to bear and thus are highly perforated to allow generous sunlight. Sinan revised this simple plan in his later imperial mosques to allow the support piers to be better integrated with the exterior walls of the prayer hall and thus less isolated near its center.

Though tabhanes were often directly attached to mosques later in Ottoman period, the tabhane at the Şehzade complex is a freestanding structure located to the east of the madrasa and north of the mosque, mausolea, and gardens. The tabhane is composed of a series of domed chambers designed to house pious travelers during short visits to the mosque. The tabhane is subdivided into three sections; the western and central sections are identical, while the larger eastern section features a unique interior organization and an adjacent trapezoidal courtyard.

The enclosed portion of the eastern section is composed of two aisles of domed bays, each four rows deep. The sections to the west are each subdivided into thirds, with two small domed chambers to both the east and west of a larger central domed space. The tabhane measures between sixty-two and sixty-seven meters wide east to west and between thirteen and twenty-four meters long north to south.

The complex is interrupted by Dede Efendi Street to the east of the tabhane and mausolea, and though the complex's perimeter wall creates a solid boundary along the street-edge, a hospice and elementary school affiliated with the mosque were constructed directly across the narrow street. The hospice is rectangular with a large central courtyard, measuring approximately twenty-five meters wide east to west and fifty-six meters long north to south. The elementary school is located adjacent and to the south of the hospice, a small square domed structure measuring ten meters to a side.

Opposite the elementary school, a small break in the complex perimeter wall allows entry to the gardens north of the mausolea. There is a second entrance opening to the courtyard of the tabhane, opposite the entrance to the hospice. The perimeter wall is further perforated to the east and south of the mausolea and to the south and west of the mosque in order to permit diverse points of entry to the complex, with no apparent primary gateway.

Mosque
The mosque has an area of 38 x 38 meters with a central dome that was constructed on four big columns. The dome has a diameter of 19 meters and a depth of 53 meters. The central dome was supported by four half-domes. The mosque has two minarets with two sherefes (minaret balcony) each with ornamentation and decoration pretty far from the architectural simplicity of that period. The nine domes of the mosque which encircle the courtyard have the same dimensions and the same height and form a symmetric unity with the fountain located in the middle of the complex.

Evliya Chelebi (1611-1684), the famous 17th century Ottoman traveler and writer, stated that the dome of the fountain had been built by Sultan Murad IV and praised the architect Sinan, due to the decoration of the minarets.

The mosque is located in the center of the complex. It is surrounded by a courtyard and contains an inner courtyard as well. In the middle of the interior courtyard is a domed reservoir used for ablutions. The minarets are found where the walls of the courtyard and mosque meet. The two minarets each have twin galleries and are unique in Istanbul due to their exterior ornamentation.

The main dome of the mosque rests on four elephant legs. The most striking of the structures within the mosque are the pulpit, niche and müezzin gallery. The medresse, primary school, soup kitchen and hospital are found to the north of the complex and were built in such a way as to constitute a courtyard wall.

The mosque is located at the center of the walled site, surrounded by gardens and pathways leading to other buildings within the complex. The mosque is accessible from the north, south, and west via five primary entrances; three portals open into the avlu and two into the prayer hall. The qibla wall forms the eastern elevation of the mosque.

The interior of the Şehzade Mosque has a symmetrical plan, with the area under the central dome expanded by use of four semidomes, one on each side, in the shape of a four leaf clover. This technique was not entirely successful, as it isolated the four huge piers needed to support the central dome, and was never again repeated by Sinan. The interior of the mosque has a very simple design, without galleries.

Because there is no column or wall dividing the interior of the mosque measuring 40.58 x 40.43 m, the view of the mosque is more attractive. The mosque was restored in 1616 after the fire of 1613. The two minarets, 41.5 m in height, having elaborate geometric decorations, were damaged during the fires of 1718 and 1722. The dome, 24 windows, is supported by four piers through large arches, and has a diameter of 18.7 m and it is 37 meters high.

The mosque’s courtyard is surrounded by a portico with 16 domes and 12 columns. It was in this building that Sinan first adopted the technique of placing colonnaded galleries along the entire length of the north and south facades in order to conceal the buttresses. The fountain, in the center, was built during the reign of Sultan Murat IV (1623 - 1640).

The mosque is surrounded by an inner colonnaded courtyard (avlu) with an area equal to that of the mosque itself. The courtyard is bordered by a portico with five domed bays on each side, with arches in alternating pink and white marble. At the center is an ablution fountain (şadırvan), which was a later donation from Sultan Murat IV. The two minarets have elaborate geometric sculpture in low bas-relief and occasional terracotta inlays.

The mosque itself has a square plan, covered by a central dome, flanked by four half-domes. The dome is supported by four piers, and has a diameter of 19 meters and it is 37 meters high. It was in this building that Sinan first adopted the technique of placing colonnaded galleries along the entire length of the north and south facades in order to conceal the buttresses.

The plan of the mosque is composed of two adjacent squares, each measuring forty-two meters to a side. The western half of the mosque forms an avlu, a square central courtyard surrounded by a row of vaulted portico bays accented with white and pink marble voussoirs. The avlu is notable as the first example in Ottoman architecture of the use of an open-air portico, instead of enclosed galleries, as the surround for a mosque courtyard.

The octagonal marble ablution fountain in the center of the courtyard was donated after the original construction of the complex by Sultan Murat IV (1612-1640 CE / AH 1021-1050). At the center of the east wall of the avlu is a recessed portal leading into the prayer hall, topped by elaborate carved muqarnas.

The Tombs
There are six mausoleums within the complex, five in an enclosed cemetery and one in the walls of the other court. The tomb of Şehzade Mehmed is one of the finest of them. The imperial mausoleums (türbe) are noted for their lavish use of İznik tiles. The first and largest is the türbe of Şehzade Mehmet, an octagonal structure, with polychrome stonework and terracotta window frames and arches and an opus sectile porch. The double dome is fluted. An inscription in Persian verse over the door gives the date of the Prince's death and suggests that the interior of the türbe is like a garden in Paradise.

The structure is supported by terracotta arches and roofed by a fluted dome. The tomb of Şehzade Mehmed is located at the center of the mausoleum, covered by a walnut baldachin. Openings in the walls allow for stained glass windows on all faces, as well as an entrance portal on the north elevation. A porch featuring inlaid opus sectile stonework leads to the entrance portal, which is surmounted by a commemorative inscription in Persian verse.

The starting year of the construction of the Tomb for Prince Mehmet was 1543 and it was completed in 1544. Walls of the tomb were covered with ceramics, and the windows have stained glass. Other than the tomb of Prince Mehmet, there are the sarcophagus of Cihangir, son of the the Süleyman the Magnificient who passed away in early age just like Prince Mehmet, the sarcophagus of Hümüşah, the daughter of the Süleyman the Magnificient, as well as three unknown sarcophagi in the tomb. Openings in the walls allow for stained glass windows on all faces, as well as an entrance portal on the north elevation.

Also designed by Sinan, the mausoleum of Grand Vizier Rüstem Paşa (1561-62 CE / AH 968-969) and his son were buried is located two meters south of Şehzade Mehmed's mausoleum. Rüstem Pasha was the son-in-law of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Like the mosque of Rüstem Paşa in Istanbul, the octagonal mausoleum features elaborate Iznik tile work.

The mausoleum of Şehzade Mahmud (d. 1603 CE / AH 1012), located five meters to the southwest of Şehzade Mehmed's structure, is a hexagonal structure measuring three meters to a side. Immediately to its south is the slightly smaller octagonal mausoleum of Seyhülislam Bostanzade Mehmed (d. 1598 CE / AH 1007).

Nine meters to the west, a larger octagonal mausoleum measuring four meters to a side honors Bosnian İbrahim Paşa (d. 1603 CE / AH 1012), Grand Vizier to and son-in-law of Sultan Murat II. Designed by Dalgıç Ahmed Ağa, this mausoleum is almost as large as that of Şehzade Mehmed.

Finally, the baldachin tomb of Şehzade Mehmed's granddaughter Fatma Sultan (1588-1589 CE / AH 996-997) is located ten meters to the east of Mehmed's mausoleum. This small domed square structure measures four meters to a side and is located adjacent to the eastern wall of the complex.

Also in the complex, Hatice Sultan, daughter to Sultan Murat III, Fatma Sultan, Şehzade Mehmet’s grandson, and Destari Mustafa Efendi, who was murdered in 1614, are buried.

Madrasah
It consists of 20 rooms, a bath, and eyvan, a vaulted room with one side open to a court that was used a dormitory for girls after 1950s. The Tabhane, (the hostel attached to a mosque where travelers (usually dervishes and mystics) could live free for three days), was located just like the Madrasah toward the east on the outer wall of courtyard.

This prayer room measures eleven meters to a side, and it projects five meters beyond the line of the exterior wall. The madrasa is accessible from the north via several entrances facing the Valens aqueduct, or by three central entrances along its south wall that face the mosque and mausolea within the Şehzade complex.

In the madrasah of the complex, completed between 1546 and 1547, there are 20 rooms and a classroom. The porticos were covered by glass cases while the madrasah was used as a dormitory for girls in the 1950s. The madrasa is located thirty-seven meters north of the mosque at the northwest corner of the complex. It follows a typical Ottoman organization in which twenty small cells and a second row of vaulted galleries are organized around a large rectangular central courtyard.

Overall, the madrasa measures forty-six meters wide east to west and thirty-two meters long north to south. Its regularity is broken by a square domed prayer room embedded at the center of the eastern wall. This prayer room measures eleven meters to a side, and it projects five meters beyond the line of the exterior wall. The madrasa is accessible from the north via several entrances facing the Valens aqueduct, or by three central entrances along its south wall that face the mosque and mausolea within the Sehzade complex.

The medrese of the Şehzade foundation is on the far side of the precinct, at the north-west corner. It is a handsome building of the usual form. The south side, facing the mosque precinct, has a portico but no cells. Opposite the entrance, instead of the usual dershane, is an open loggia, the lecture hall itself being in the centre of the east side; opposite, a passage between two cells leads to the lavatories.

The building has been well restored and is again in use as a residence for university students. In line with the medrese but farther east is the kervansaray, which now serves as a science laboratory for the adjacent Vefa Lisesi. This building is probably not by Sinan, though obviously contemporary, or nearly so, with the rest of the complex.

It has no door into the mosque precinct but is entered from the other side. It is L-shaped, the bottom stroke of the L consisting of a long, wide hall, its eight domes supported on three columns down its length; perpendicular to this is a block of eight cubicles with two spacious halls giving access to them. This interesting building is in good shape and makes a fine science laboratory.

Sıbyan Mektebi
The building located in the southern part of the Şehzade Complex, sometimes used as the printing house of Istanbul University, was Sıbyan Mektebi, an Ottoman elementary school. The entry porch of the school does not exist today; the window structure has been metamorphosed and the fireplace was removed when it was used as a warehouse.

Primary School
The Primary School, single - domed with a diameter of 7.5 m, measuring 9.5 x 9.5 m, is now used by the Foundation of İstanbul University Political Sciences Graduates

Daruzziyafe
There is another structure called Daruzziyafe (Restaurant, previously a soup kitchen in the 16th century) which consists of three sections and draws the attention of visitors.

Kitchen
The lodging room of the imaret (kitchen) is used as repositories of Vefa High School. The two roomed kitchens, facing a rectangular courtyard, have been devastated day by day due to the squalor and neglect. The hospice is rectangular with a large central courtyard, measuring approximately twenty-five meters wide east to west and fifty-six meters long north to south. Soup kitchen consists of kitchen, dining room, storeroom and cellar.

Tabhane
The Tabhane, (the hostel attached to a mosque where travelers (usually dervishes and mystics) could live free for three days), was located just like the Madrasah toward the east on the outer wall of courtyard. Though tabhanes were often directly attached to mosques later in Ottoman period, the tabhane at the Şehzade complex is a freestanding structure located to the east of the madrasa and north of the mosque, mausolea, and gardens.

The tabhane is composed of a series of domed chambers designed to house pious travelers during short visits to the mosque. The tabhane is subdivided into three sections; the western and central sections are identical, while the larger eastern section features a unique interior organization and an adjacent trapezoidal courtyard.

The enclosed portion of the eastern section is composed of two aisles of domed bays, each four rows deep. The sections to the west are each subdivided into thirds, with two small domed chambers to both the east and west of a larger central domed space. The tabhane measures between sixty-two and sixty-seven meters wide east to west and between thirteen and twenty-four meters long north to south.

The complex is interrupted by Dede Efendi Street to the east of the tabhane and mausolea, and though the complex's perimeter wall creates a solid boundary along the street-edge, a hospice and elementary school affiliated with the mosque were constructed directly across the narrow street.

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İMRAHOR İLYAS BEY MOSQUE

Kocamustafa Paşa, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 40°59'46.0"N 28°55'43.0"E / 40.996111, 28.928611



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Studios Monastery (Imrahor / Emir Ahir Mosque): Situated on Yedikule Imam Aşir Street, Studios (Imrahor, Emir Ahır Mosque) is the oldest apparent religious structure in İstanbul. The Monastery of Stoudios, more fully Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner "at Stoudios", often shortened to Stoudios, Studion, or Stoudion, (Latin: Studium), was historically the most important monastery of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The residents of the monastery were referred to as Stoudites (or Studites).

Although the monastery has been derelict for half a millennium, the laws and customs of the Stoudion were taken as models by the monks of Mount Athos and of many other monasteries of the Orthodox world; even today they have influence. The ruins of the monastery are situated not far from the Propontis (Marmara Sea) in the section of the city called Psamathia, today's Koca Mustafa Paşa. It was founded in 462 by the consul Stoudios (Latin: Studius), a Roman patrician who had settled in Constantinople, and was consecrated to Saint John the Baptist. Its first monks came from the monastery of Acoemetae.

With three naves and a gallery, Ayios Ioannes (John the Baptist) church was completed between 454 and 463. Having been represented in the seventh ecumenical in spite of the compulsions in 787 demonstrates that the monastery, which was closed because of iconoclast influence in 754 and whose hermits were sent to exile, was still strong and functioning. During the Abbacy period of the priest Theodore between in years 798 and 826, the monastery became a dazzling centre of the Christian world.

The Stoudites gave the first proof of their devotion to the Orthodox Faith during the schism of Acacius (484-519); they also remained loyal during the storms of iconoclastic dispute in the eighth and ninth centuries. They were driven from the monastery and the city by Emperor Constantine V (r. 741-775); after his death however, some of them returned.

Hegumenos (abbot) Sabas of Stoudios zealously defended the Orthodox doctrines against the Iconoclasts at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (787). His successor was Theodore the Studite to whom the monastery owes most of its fame, and who especially fostered academic and spiritual study. During St. Theodore's administration also the monks were harassed and driven away several times, some of them being put to death.

At the same time, the number of priests reached 700 in parallel with the growth of the monastery. Archpriest Theodore did not approbate Emperor VI Archpriest Theodore, who returned along with other priests exiled in 812, supported the silent march of the priests carrying icons in 815 and this was the most important reason for him being eviled again. Theodore died in the Akritas Monastery in 826, to where he had been exiled.

Theodore's pupil, Naukratios, re-established discipline after the Iconoclastic dispute had come to an end. Hegumenos Nicholas (848-845 and 855-858) refused to recognize the Patriarch St. Photios and was on this account imprisoned in his own monastery. He was succeeded by five abbots who recognized the patriarch. The brilliant period of the Stoudios came to an end at this time.

In the middle of the eleventh century, during the administration of Abbot Simeon, a monk named Niketas Stethatos, a disciple of Symeon the New Theologian, criticized some customs of the Latin Church in two books which he wrote on the use of unleavened bread, the Sabbath, and the marriage of priests.

As regards the intellectual life of the monastery in other directions, it is especially celebrated for its famous school of calligraphy which was established by Theodore. The art of manuscript illumination was cultivated, with many brilliant products of the monastic scriptorium now residing in Venice, Vatican City, and Moscow.

In the eighth and eleventh centuries, the monastery was the centre of Byzantine religious poetry; a number of the hymns are still used in the Orthodox Church. Besides Theodore and Niketas, a number of other theological writers are known. Three of the Stoudite monks rose to become the ecumenical patriarchs; and three emperors - Michael V (r. 1041-1042), Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071-1078), and Isaac I Komnenos (r. 1057-1059) - took monastic vows in the Stoudion.

Theodore was buried to Büyükada. After the Iconoclast Period, Theodore was brought from Büyükada and buried in the Studios Monastery in 844. Emperor Michael V was arrested, blinded and castrated by a mob although he took refuge in the monastery in 1042. Emperor Isaac I in 1059 and Dukas VII in 1078 were cloistered in the monastery after they had abdicated. The head of John the Baptist, brought to the monastery in the 10th century, is one of the most important relics stolen during the Latin occupation.

The monastery, renovated by Emperor Konstantinus Palaiologos in 1293 after the Crusader destruction, remained effective during 14th and 15th centuries, and many books, which were copied, were sent to Russia. Kasım, son of Sultan Beyazıt, who was a guest in the Byzantine Palace, was buried in the monastery when he died during a plague disaster in 1417. It was written in some references that Prince Kasım converted to Christianity just before he died. The church was named after Imrahor İlyas Bey (Emir Ahır) after it was converted into a mosque in 1486.

In 1204, the monastery was destroyed by the Crusaders and was not fully restored until 1290, by Constantine Palaiologos. The Russian pilgrims Anthony (c. 1200) and Stephen (c. 1350) were amazed by the size of the monastic grounds. It is thought that the cloister sheltered as much as 700 monks at the time. The greater part of the monastery was again destroyed when the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453.

The only part to survive into the 20th century was the Cathedral of St. John Baptist, probably the oldest remaining church in Istanbul, a 5th-century basilica which was converted by Sultan Bayezid II's equerry into the mosque İmrahor Camii (literally, Mosque of the Stablemaster). The ancient structure sustained grave damage from the great fires of 1782 and 1920; the 1894 Istanbul earthquake also contributed to its ruin.

In addition, Imrahor Ilyas Bey built a bath and shops as the foundation for the mosque in Langa. Nazperver Kadın, one of the harem treasurers of Sultan Selim III, repaired the damage caused by the Samatya fire dated 1782 between 1804 and 1805. The monastery, which was damaged during the earthquake of 1894 and whose dome collapsed in 1908, was abandoned after the fire of 1920. The bath in Langa, which was a foundation, was destroyed in 1923.

Following the earthquake, a group of Russian Byzantinist scholars, led by Fyodor Uspensky, opened the Russian Archaeological Institute on the monastery grounds, but its activity was suppressed in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917. During the subsequent decades, the ruins of the monastery complex were looted by local inhabitants to repair their houses, while the magnificent 13th century pavement still lies open to elements "and disappears slowly but steadily".

The monastery was destroyed as it had been used as a quarry during the 15th century for the construction within Topkapı Palace. Many documents and books were translated and protected in the monastery during centuries. Many chants of Orthodox Church were composed by Archpriest Theodore and his brother Patriarch Josephos of Salonika as well as the psalmody developed in Studios Monastery. The monks were called sleepless (akometoi) because of their conducting religious ceremonies day and night continuously.

Studios monastery where welcoming ceremonies were organized for Byzantine emperors after passing the Golden Gate. The first scientific studies regarding the monastery were undertaken by the Russian Archaeological Institute under A. Pancenko between in years 1908 and 1909.

In a move that has attracted significant criticism and controversy, the St John Stoudios (Imrahor) Monastery in Turkey, the largest Byzantine monastery in Istanbul, will be converted into a mosque and its name changed to the İmrahor İlyas Bey Mosque.

The Monastery of Stoudios, also known as the İmrahor Monument, was built in 462 AD and is one of the oldest surviving monasteries in the country.  Historically, it was the most important monastery of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its laws and customs were used as models by the monks of Mount Athos in Greece and many other monasteries of the Orthodox world.

“I wouldn’t like to speak as a member of a council but my personal opinion is that cultural heritage shouldn’t be reflected as an antagonistic heritage. If we reflect it like this, it will damage societies on a macro level,” said Laki Vingas, acting as representatives of the Directorate General of Foundations. Vingas added: “My personal view is that when you are trying to create a new vision you should be careful not to create new problems for the future.”

The monastery is currently in a state of ruin and the conversion will take place after it is restored.  The renovation of the building, follows the same fate as that of other churches in Trabzon and İznik, which have already been turned into mosques. The conversion of a building from the worship of one religion to the worship of another religion has attracted significant controversy over the centuries.

Many believe that a place of worship should be retained for its original purpose and historical significance, while others maintain that if a building is in ruin and unused it is better to be restored and used for another religion than to be left to rot. The conversion of non-Muslim places of worship into mosques occurred primarily during the life of Muhammad and continued during subsequent Islamic conquests and under historical Muslim rule.

The cistern with 24 granite columns, erected in 463, near to the church, measures 26 x 19 meters. The distance between the cistern’s columns is 3.9 - 3.45 meters. The wall thickness is 1.6 meters and its vaults collapsed during the earthquake of 1894. The holy spring, close to the cistern, measures 5.2 x 7.45 meters and it is now used as a workshop.

As a result, numerous Hindu temples, churches, synagogues, the Parthenon and Zoroastrian temples were converted into mosques. Several such mosques in Muslim or ex-Muslim lands have since reverted or become museums, such as the Hagia Sophia in Turkey and numerous mosques in Spain. However, Muslims are not the only ones to carry out such conversions. There were many occasions of non-Christian places of worship being converted into churches in the early history of Christianity, which continued during subsequent Christian conquests and Christianization, many involving the destruction of pagan temples.

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YERALTI MOSQUE

Karaköy, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'20.7"N 28°58'35.8"E / 41.022417, 28.976611



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Yealtı Mosque (Kurşunlu Mahzen Camii) is a mosque that was constructed almost below the street level. It is located at the neighbourhood of Karaköy very close to the pier at the mouth of the Golden Horn. This quite unique structure suggests that the Yeraltı Cami had been part of what remained from the Galata Castle - presumably a large basement room, used as a cellar or a depot- that used to be located at the southern side of the Golden Horn right opposite to the walled city of Constantinople during the Byzantine period.

The Galata Castle used to hold one end of a huge chain all the way across the sea to the other side at the city walls, which was used by the Byzantines in order to prevent ships from entering the Golden Horn when the city was under siege. Part of that chain that has survived is being exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul.

The Yeralti Mosque is the basement of a former Byzantine fortress. It was once a prison. The mosque appears tentatively at first from behind a nondescript facade on a busy street. Inside its walls, the ceiling hovers seven feet above the subterranean ground level and imposing rectangular columns obstruct and cut their own private nooks of worship. It is an anomaly in a culture of communal praying that appreciates the spiritual accommodations of open spaces. It has the constancy of a quiet, cavernous darkness.

Often called the Underground Mosque because it's buried beneath a 19th-century wooden mansion, the low, vaulted interior is supported by 54 columns, built on the remains of the Byzantine castle of Galata, which guarded the entrance to the Golden Horn.

From here, a great chain was stretched across the waterway, blocking access to enemy ships in times of siege. The upper part of the castle was demolished following the Ottoman conquest, and the remaining lower floor - formerly a prison - was converted to a mosque in 1757. Unlike any other mosque in the city, Yeralti Camii is housed underground in a crypt belonging to what was once The Castle of Galata. Entry to the Golden Horn was controlled from here during Byzantine times, and it is thought that the giant chain which prevented unwanted ships from passing through the waterway used to be anchored here.

According to the legend Sultan Mehmet II, the conqueror of Constantinople, used very large trees upon which he dragged his boats from land through the area of Galata in order to move his boats from the Bosporus Sea to the Golden Horn, bypassing the Byzantines’ chain.

During the Ottoman Period the abandoned castle was partially destroyed, until the mid seventeenth century when the tombs of two Arab sainted martyrs were revealed and Sultan Murat IV ordered the construction of the shrine in 1640 which finally was turned to a mosque in the following century. It said that the martyrs died there during the first siege of the city by the Arabs in the seventh century AD.

The building was converted into a mosque in 1757 by the Grand Vezir Köşe Mustafa Paşa. Inside, there are a series of columns supporting low vaulted ceilings to allow for private prayer space. The tombs of two Arab soldiers are situated in a side chapel, enclosed inside a glass case. The tombs of Abu Sufyan and Amiri Vahibi, who were believed to have died here as martyrs between 672 and 677 BC during the siege of İstanbul by the Arabs, are here.

The Yeraltı Cami is a quite unique structure and a rare kind of a mosque in Turkey. It has a low ceiling which stands on fifty four thick columns with low vaults, which divide the mosque in narrow passages and small praying places. The mihrab on the Eastern side of the mosque is not at the centre of the wall but right at the end of one of these smaller passages, something that adds to the exceptionality of the Yeraltı Cami.

Evliya Çelebi says the castle was damaged and some parts of it were destroyed during the reign of Beyazid II in an earthquake called "the Little Apocalypse". It is not known whether his statements are true but it is a known fact that the castle / Mahzen-i Sultani (the Imperial Granary) is not depicted in neither of the drawings of Matrakçı Nasuhi dated 1573 and nor in Hünername dating back 1584.

Registered under the name of "the Lead-covered Store" in the official records of the 15th and 16th centuries, we also find out that remaining part of the castle was once used as the Grand Customs Office. The building, which most probably served as the warehouse for the imported goods brought to the city were stored and traded, was subsequently renewed with the removal of the new customs office on its place.

The Lead-covered Granary Pavilion, one of the most beautiful sights of the Turkish civilian architecture, is the Customs Office which was constructed on the grounds of the larger bastion of the castle. The engraving by John Lewis dated 1836 brings back the sensational sight of the pavilion to us. There is also another picture taken from the Tower of Galata showing the back side of the Lead-covered Granary Pavilion.

The multi-footed granary situated at the basement floor level of the Lead-covered Granary Pavilion, which was constructed on the remainings of the tower section, is also the source of a legend. After a war in 714 AD, some high officials of the Ummayan Dynasty became martyr around the granary during the siege and were buried there along with Müslime / Mesleme, the commender-in-chief to the army, and, rumour has it that the gate of that section was closed down with a lead-cast seal while the army was marching back to Damascus.

It is probably becouse of this rumour that the building became known as "the Leaded Granary" by public, although it was documented under "Mahsen-i Sultani", the Imperial Granary, in the official records. It is also among many other rumours that the graves of these Sahabes (the companions related by blood to the Prophet Muhammed) were ascertained in a dream by a Nakhshibendi Sheik, and thus recognized as a Holy Place in 17th century.

During the Ottoman Period the abandoned castle was partially destroyed, until the mid seventeenth century when the tombs of two Arab sainted martyrs were revealed and Sultan Murat IV ordered the construction of the shrine which finally was turned to a mosque in the following century. It said that the martyrs died there during the first siege of the city by the Arabs in the seventh century AD.

Although Sultan Murad IV (1623-1640) projected a mosque just next to the graves, it was never carried out. About a century later, Köse Mustafa Bahir Paşa of Çorlu had the granary building cleaned and reorganized to serve as a mosque. It is due to this fact that the mosque was presented as though it had been granted by Sultan Mahmud I in the long inscribed stone panel over the gate dating H. 1166 (1752 AD).

We see that the cone-shaped minaret underwent some particular changes within years, yet we still do not know from which date on it was called "the Underground Mosque". In a photograph dating 1854, the minaret which appears in a long and thin lead conical shape, looks in a fairly different shape in another photograph taken in 1868. Renovated begining from the şerefe (narrow, circular balcony surrounding a minaret), the wooden stilts and hanging fringes of its şerefe present a unique sight to us.

The former lead-cone was replaced with a maceshaped hood. We see in a latter photograph taken in early 1900s that the hood was once again changed with a relatively smaller, stubby lead cone. Considering the various sights of the minaret, it can be said that the building often underwent some repairs and changes within years. Situated on the same level with Kemeraltı Caddesi and supporting a two storey wooden building used as the General Health Directorate of Boundries and Coasts, the Underground Mosque has an orderly rectangular plan.

It is hard to have an idea about the exterior of the mosque as it was surrounded by some various buildings. Even the minaret is hardly seen because of the neighbouring tall buildings. The entrance to the building is on the facade looking to Kemeraltı Caddesi. The main entrance gate with a space is situated in the central axis of the building; the last open space on the left side of the facade is mainly used for entries.

A niche is placed ahead of the window just on the left side of the main entrance, and, to the left of it on the end space is located a small, lowered wooden pulpit. Daylight gets into the mosque through these three windows on this facade and the entrance door was fitted up later on. The other two entrances to the mosque open up presently to Karantina Sokak and they are the doors that are used by climbing the stairs inside the building. Independently built in the shape of squared-sections from the walls are there 45 steps covered with cross pendentives.

It is almost impossible to comprehend the overall space of the mosque due to the fact that the interior is almost as big as the size of the pedestals. Inside the mosque are three holy persons, tombs, attributed namely to Amr Bin As (573-663), Vehb Bin Hüseyre and Süfyan Bin Üyeyne. Süfyan Bin Üyeyne lies in the main section facing the south of the mosque where a small open space is serving as an entrance; Amr Bin As and Vehb Bin Hüseyre lie side by side in the space adjoining the south wing section of the building and leading to Karantina Sokak.

Renovated recently, the mosque presents a spatial dissimilarity with the other mosques in our heritage. Being one of the most beautiful examples of utilizing a 1500 years old castle remained from a fortrees and conforming it to your own belief in harmony, the Underground Mosquee is one of the most original buildings that must seen by us all.

On the right side as we enter the mosque from the northern entrance are located the two tombs of the Arab martyrs. The interior of the mosque is not decorated and the columns are painted with a plain white colour. However, the low light of the mosque combined with its unique structure creates a very interesting atmosphere.

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GÜL MOSQUE

Ayakapı, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'37.0"N 28°57'22.7"E / 41.026944, 28.956306



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The building is located in Istanbul, in the district of Fatih, in the neighborhood of Ayakapı (Gate of the Saint), along Vakif Mektebi Sokak. It lies at the end of the valley which divides the fourth and the fifth hills of Constantinople, and from its imposing position it overlooks the Golden Horn.

Gül Mosque is a former Eastern Orthodox church converted into a mosque by the Ottomans. It is one of the most important religious Byzantine buildings of Constantinople still extant, but its dedication and the date of its construction, which for long time appeared certain, are now disputed by scholars. It is either identified with the church belonging to the nunnery of Saint Theodosia or with that of the monastery of Christ the Benefactor.

Formerly a Byzantine church, the original name and date of the mosque are contested by scholars. Jules Pargoire, writing at the turn of the century, identifies the building as the Church of Euphemia built during the rule of Basil I (867-886) and argues that it was later consecrated to St. Theodosia, a local saint martyred during iconoclast riots. Hartmut Schafer, based on field studies from the 1960s, proposes a later date of construction between 1000 and 1150 and identifies the church as Christos Euergetes.

The building, since Stephan Gerlach visited it in the late 15th century, has always been identified with the church of Hagia Theodosia en tois Dexiokratous. At the beginning of last century, Jules Pargoire identified the building as the church of Hagia Euphēmia en tō Petriō, built during the reign of Basil I (867-886), and brilliantly explained the change in its dedication.

The German archaeologist Hartmut Schäfer, after studies performed in the 1960s on the dating of the basement, estimated the date of construction of the edifice between the end of the eleventh and the first half of 12th century, placing it in the Komnenian period, and identifying it hypothetically as the church of the monastery of Christos Euergetēs. He excludes the possibility that the Gül Mosque is the building where the body of Hagia Theodosia was brought after the end of the Iconoclasm period.

On the other hand, he does not exclude the possibility that the building could have been dedicated to Hagia Theodosia in a later period. At the beginning of last century Jules Pargoire identified the building as the church of Hagia Euphemia en to Petrio, built during the reign of Basil I (867-886), and brilliantly explained the change in its dedication.

The German archaeologist Hartmut Schafer, after studies performed in the 1960s on the dating of the basement, estimated the date of construction of the edifice between the end of the eleventh and the first half of twelfth century, placing it in the Komnenian age, and identifying it hypothetically as the church of the monastery of Christos Euergetes. He excludes the possibility that the Gül Mosque is the building where the body of Hagia Theodosia was brought after the end of the Iconoclasm period.  On the other hand, he does not exclude the possibility that the building could have been dedicated to Hagia Theodosia in a later period.

Byzantine period
On January 19, 729, at the very beginning of the iconoclastic persecutions, Emperor Leo III the Isaurian ordered the removal of an image of Christ which stood over the Chalke, the main gate of the Great Palace of Constantinople. While an officer was executing the order, a group of women gathered to prevent the operation, and one of them, a nun named Theodosia, let him fall from the ladder. The man died, and Theodosia was captured and executed.

After the end of the Iconoclasm, Theodosia was recognized as a martyr and saint, and her body was kept and worshiped in the church of Hagia Euphemia en tō Petrio, in the quarter named Dexiokratiana, after the houses owned here by one Dexiokrates. The church and adjoining monastery were erected by Emperor Basil I at the end of the ninth century. The monastery hosted his four daughters, who were all buried in the church. Hagia Euphemia lay near the Monastery of Christos Euergetos, whose foundation date is unknown.

It is only known that it was restored by protosebastos John Komnenos, son of Andronikos I Komnenos and brother of co-emperor John, who died fighting in the battle of Myriokephalon in 1176. On April 12, 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, the Latin fleet gathered in front of the monastery of the Euergetes before attacking the city. During the Latin Empire, the navy had its anchorage in front of the monastery, and the naval port was kept there by Michael VIII Palaiologos also after the restoration of the Byzantine Empire. Many sacred relics kept in the church were looted by the Crusaders and many still exist in churches throughout western Europe.

The worship of Theodosia grew with the time until, after the 11th century, the church was named after her. Since the original feast day of Hagia Euphemia occurred on the 30th of May, and that of another Hagia Theodosia, Hagia Theodosia of Tyros occurred on the 29th of May, finally this day became the feast day of Hagia Theodosia hē Konstantinoupolitissa (Saint Theodosia from Constantinople).

Hagia Theodosia became one among the most venerated saints in Constantinople, being invoked particularly by the infirm. The fame of the saint was increased by the recovery of a deaf-mute in 1306. The church is often mentioned by the Russian pilgrims who visited the city in the fourteenth and early fifteenth century, but sometimes it is confounded with Christ Euergetēs, which, as already said, stood near it. Twice a week a procession took place in the nearby roads. In that occasion the relics hosted in the church were carried along, followed by a great crowd of sick people praying for their recovery.

The church is mentioned for the last time on May 28, 1453. On that day, which was the eve both of the Saint's feast and also of the end of the Byzantine Empire, the Emperor Constantine XI with the Patriarch went to pray into the church, which was adorned with garlands of roses. Afterward Constantine left for the last struggle. Many people remained all the night in the church, praying for the salvation of the city. On the morning the Ottoman troops, after entering the city, reached the building, still adorned with flowers, and captured all the people gathered inside, considering them as prisoners of war.

Ottoman period
After the Ottoman conquest, the basement of the edifice, which in the meantime had fallen to ruin, was used as naval dockyard. Close to the building, Seyhülislam Molla Hüsrev Mehmet Effendi (died 1480) established a vakıf (foundation) and erected a small mosque (Küçük Mustafa Paşa Mescidi) and a bath (Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hamamı), which still exists.

Some years later (in 1490), the ruined church was repaired and converted into a mosque. The conversion to mosque occurred in the last decade of the 15th century. The roof is believed to have collapsed in the 1509 earthquake, calling for partial reconstruction under Sultan Selim II (1566-1574). A minaret was erected between 1566 and 1574, under Sultan Selim II, by Hassam Pasha, a supplier of the Ottoman navy.

Afterwards the mosque was often named after him. Between 1573 and 1578, during his sojourn in Istanbul, the German preacher Stephan Gerlach visited the mosque, identifying it with the church of Hagia Theodosia. During that century the mosque saw the predication of the local holy man Gül Baba, which was allegedly buried in the building. It is also possible that the mosque was named after him.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the edifice was heavily damaged in its upper parts by earthquakes, until Sultan Murad IV restored it, rebuilding the dome with the pendentives, almost the whole west side, the vaults at the southwest and northwest corners, and the minaret. The building escaped the great fire which ravaged the quarter in 1782, and was restored again by Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839), who added the wooden Sultan's lodge.

Exterior Architecture
The building lies on a high vaulted basement, which was used also during the Byzantine period only for secular purposes. The masonry of the basement has been built adopting the technique of the "recessed brick", typical of the Byzantine architecture of the middle period. In this technique, alternate courses 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 building has a cross-in-square plan, which is oriented northwest - southeast. It is 26 meters long and 20 meters wide, and is surmounted by five domes, one above the central nave and four smaller placed on the four corners. The central dome, which has a low external drum and has no windows, is Ottoman, as are the broad pointed arches which carry it. The original dome, akin to that of Kalenderhane Mosque, should have been carried by a tall drum pierced by windows. The central dome, with its low octagonal drum carried on broad pointed arches, is recognizably Ottoman.

The original dome would have rested on a tall drum pierced with windows and the supporting arches would be integrated into the barrel vaults on four sides. The side facades have five tiers of windows, three above the gallery level, that fill the space with light. Some of these windows and those illuminating the sanctuary were opened by Ottoman architects. The orientation of the church allowed for the central placement of the mihrab in the sanctuary. A wooden minber, muezzin's platform and a preacher's pulpit were also added during conversion. The interior is largely plastered, with 18th century Ottoman paintwork.

The exterior of the building is quite imposing. On the southeastern façade, the central apse, with seven sides, and the lateral ones, with three sides, project boldly outside. The central apse appears to be a later Byzantine reconstruction, since it lacks the four tiers of five niches, which feature ornamental brickwork and adorn the lateral ones. Above the niches runs a cornice. The style of the side apses resembles strongly that of those of Pantokrator Church, and is a further element in favour of a late dating of the building.

On the exterior, the tall church has an imposing and symmetrical appearance, animated by the stepped cornice line and the four domes at the corners, forming a visual counterpart to the central dome. The southwest façade is imposing with its three tall apses that are fitted with blind niches of varying heights featuring ornamental brickwork. The church, used as a neighborhood mosque, has a minaret at the western corner that was rebuilt in baroque style after the 1766 earthquake.

Interior Architecture
The church is built atop a vaulted basement, which forms a raised platform for the monument. The walls of the basement are exposed to the southeast and east, where the terrain slopes down towards the Golden Horn. It has a Greek cross or cross-domed plan oriented northwest-southeast. Entering through the wooden porch, built in the 1940s, the nave is preceded by a wide entry hall, capped with a low barrel vault. A triple archway leads into the tall domed nave, flanked by galleries forming the side arms of the Greek cross, and an apsidal sanctuary at its southeast end.

The side galleries also have triple archways, but are taller than the entry hall, whereas they share an upper floor with stairs at the southwest end of the entry hall. The level above the entry hall and the right side gallery are used by women and the upper-level of the left side gallery is organized for the Sultan, protected with ornate wooden lattice. The sultan's lodge projects into the nave like a bay window, supported by an adjoining pier and a single wooden console. The side galleries terminate in small chapels flanking the sanctuary on both levels; corridors connect the three apses at the lower level.

The interior of the building was plastered and decorated in the 18th century. One enters through a wooden porch, which leads to a low narthex surmounted by a barrel vault. From there a triple arcade leads into the tall nave, which is flanked by galleries forming the side arms of the cross. They rest on a triple arcade supported by square piers. The nave ends with the main apse, which is flanked by two smaller ones. The south-east orientation of the main apse allowed the erection of the mihrab inside it.

Each gallery ends with a small chapel, which lies respectively above the prothesis and diaconicon. Both chapels are surmounted by hemispherical domes which are built directly above the pendentives. Light enters in the building through five orders of windows, three belonging to the galleries. Some of the windows are Ottoman.

Carved inside each of the two eastern dome piers there is a small chamber. The south east chamber contains the alleged tomb of the Ottoman Saint Gül Baba. Above the entrance there is the following inscription in Ottoman Turkish: "Tomb of the Apostle, disciple of Jesus. Peace with him", which bears witness to the religious syncretism in sixteenth-century Istanbul. The chamber was originally possibly the tomb of St Theodosia. A tradition that one of the piers hides the burial place of the last Byzantine Emperor was born in the nineteenth century, and is groundless.

Particular of the apses as viewed from southeast. The difference in masonry between the surviving Byzantine parts (low) and the later Ottoman additions (high) can be easily noticed.The building lies on a high vaulted basement, which was used also during the Byzantine period only for secular purposes. The masonry of the basement has been built adopting the technique of the "recessed brick", typical of the Byzantine architecture of the middle period. In this technique, alternate courses 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.

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HÜSEYİN AĞA MOSQUE

Taksim, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'06.0"N 28°58'50.1"E / 41.035000, 28.980583



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Start down Istiklal Caddesi and go as far as the stone wall on the right behind which is a small mosque. This is the Hüseyin Ağa Mosque, never very noticeable except on Fridays at noon prayer time. Then the worshipers fill the he mosque to capacity and spill out onto the street. Many of the men who come to pray have shops near the small mosque and little time to spend to go further afield.

The Hüseyin Ağa Mosque, which dates back to the end of the 16th century is a sweet little place with its Kütahya tiles, calligraphy, colored glass windows and floors covered with İsparta rugs. It will look even better when the long-awaited restoration project is completed.

But as for who Galatasaray Ağası Şeyhülharem Hüseyin Ağa - who had the mosque built, probably in 1596 (1005 A.H.), although it might actually have been built in 1591 or 1594 - was, there is no agreement.

Beyoğlu attracted foreigners, as the old embassies - now consulates - along Istiklal Caddesi attest. There were also numerous Christian churches of one denomination or another, but Ağa Camii is the only Muslim mosque along the entire length of the street and that is perhaps why it was built. The Taksim area in 1596 would still have been sparsely inhabited, open countryside.

Hüseyin Ağa, the mosque’s builder, held two prominent positions during his lifetime. Although he was a eunuch, he was appointed the Sheikh-ul-Harem in the second half of the 16th century. The Ottomans gained control over Mecca and Medina with the conquest of Egypt in 1517, but they were so engaged with war in the Balkans and with the Safavid Persians that they seem to have done little with the two cities until the 1580s. In 1582, the architect Mehmed Ağa renovated the courtyard around the Ka’bah, and in 1585 further renovations were made.

This was the first time that a large-scale Muslim settlement was built outside of old Istanbul. The place included a mosque, medrese (school), barracks and kitchens. The curriculum included manners and the art of conversing, reading, writing prose and poetry and various military accomplishments such as horsemanship, archery and lance-throwing. Arabic and Persian were taught, and how to compose and perform musical pieces.

Hüseyin Ağa had been a kadi (judge) in Medina before becoming the Sheikh ul-Harem. As the latter he was one of the most important people in the area and was responsible for disciplining the other Ağas and looking after any legal claims that might be made against these eunuchs. Of his other responsibilities, he would receive ten gold pieces from official funds every year to pay for the pilgrimage and supervise the people of Medina.

In 1585, for instance, the funds were late and the Sheikh ul-Harem lodged an official complaint over the matter. This official took it upon himself to confiscate a grain shipment that had arrived at Yanbu port and distributed it among the people of Medina. The need for such an official was the result of having no governor (vali) appointed for Medina. The Sheikh ul-Harem also undertook such duties as seeing that wages were paid, repairing water systems, settling disputes and submitting reports to Istanbul on how grain donations were handled.

From Medina, Hüseyin Ağa was made the head of the palace educational institution where Galatasaray Lycee now stands. According to the legend, Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481-1521) was hunting and stopped for a drink of water. When he asked that person if he had a wish, the latter wanted an institution of learning built there.

The Ottomans had instituted a levy on young Christian boys from villages and educated them. These would subsequently be assigned positions within the imperial palace or with the Janissary military corps after successively completing their lessons and becoming Muslims. But space at Topkapı Palace was limited, so the lower grades were moved elsewhere. The principal school offering these lower grades was Galatasaray, which had been set up by Sultan Selim I (r. 1512-20), the son of Sultan Bayezid II.

Hüseyin Ağa was undoubtedly a product of this system, so he would know the school at Galatasaray well, and it would not have been surprising to see him appointed rector. He would have been educated among the white eunuchs who controlled the harem at Topkapı Palace and the outer service. He possibly was a protege of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, who was the grand vizier of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman I between 1565 and 1579 and who was responsible for the Ottoman conquest of Yemen in 1571.

In 1595, the white eunuchs in the palace were replaced by the black eunuchs at the time that Sultan Mehmed III (r. 1595-1603) ascended the throne and Safiye Sultan became the Valide Sultan (Sultan Mother). The black eunuchs were considered more reliable around the harem women than the white eunuchs.

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YAHYA EFENDİ MOSQUE

Çırağan, Beşiktaş - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'44.6"N 29°01'05.0"E / 41.045722, 29.018056



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Yahya Efendi shrine and its cemetery are always busy with the crowded people who are looking for right answers for their problems. Circumcised children, pregnant ladies, unmaried girls, unemployed people and so on come to Yahya Efendi shrine, tell their difficulties or problems to his sarcopgahus silenlty, pray to him in the name of Allah and ask for help then they leave with a great respect and wait the result. If their fresults come true, they come again and thank to him by praying and deliver some presents to the vistors and poor around the shrine.

It has been going on since Yahya Effendi was buried here. Yahya Effendi was one of the famous scholars of 16th century AD and he was the milk brother of famous Kanuni Sultan Süleyman. Yahya Efendi was born in Trabzon of Black Sea region in 1495 at the same time when prince Süleyman was born. Yahya Efendi and prince Süleyman were breastfed by Yahya Efendi’s mother so they became milk brothers were brough up together.

When prince Süleyman became the 10th of Ottoman empire, Yahya efendi came to Istanbul and became a famous scholar. He worked as the university dean for a long time and he was the close friend and advisor of the sultan. Before he got retired, he bought a large piece of land in Beşiktaş and established his lodge as a big complex then he began training the inhabitants of Istanbul and helping to the fishermen and poor people.

Thousands of people had attended his funeral and his lovers wanted to be buried in this cemetery to be closer to him. Therefore a big cemetery around his tomb has been arisen for centuries. The members of Ottoman dynasty, high bureaucrats such as grand viziers, state governors, sheikhs-el Islam, university teachers, tutors, soldiers, judges and so on  have been buried in their shrines and in this cemetery.

It has been restored several times because of great fires and earthquakes. During the reign of Sultan Abdülhamit II, it was restored  with some buildings and a big shrine in the courtyard where Ottoman female members-sultans- and princes were buried. The library and the fountain were also restored in late 19th century and after the republic handmade books were sent to Süleymaniye library to be kept there.

When he died in 1571 AD, Ottoman Sultan Selim II ordered architect Sinan to build a domed shrine for him and he was buried in his shrine later. Yahya Efendi has a big shrine in the middle of the cemetery where he was buried with his wife and his children. The shrine has a charming entrance with a fountain built by Sultan Abdülhamit II and before entering his shrine his lodge members gravestones are located on both sides with a nice calligraphy on.

His sarcophagus is located in the center seperated with ivory cage surronding with his family members coffins. On the left hand side of his shrine, Güzelce Ali Paşa-Handsome Ali Pasha’s shrine is situated and six marvelous marble sarcophagus with wonderful gravestones can be visited inside overlooking the Bosphorus bridge. Güzelce Ali Pasha was one of the famous Ottoman grandviziers in 18th century who was the lover of Yahya Effendi.

Yahya Efendi cemetery has more than 2500 unique and ordinary Ottoman gravestones. Sect masters’ gravestones such as Rufai, Kadiri, Mawlavi, Nakshibendi and Baktashi  with their sect headgears, sailor formed gravestones of  late Ottoman fleet captains, female gravestones with flowers and traditional symbols, the gravestones which Ottoman coat of arms were carved on and the gravestones with Fes headgears are worth seeinf after the visit of Yahya Effendi shrine. At the right hand side of the entrance, there is a big shrine where late 19th  and early 20th Ottoman dynasty members Şehzades, Sultans were buried aslo can be seen.

Except the windows on the eastern and western sides, the windows have been changed during the repairs and lost their authenticity. Other known restoration works have been in progress during Sultan Mahmut II (1808-1839) and Sultan Abdülhamit II (1876-1909). The carving inside the tomb are originally kept. Actually, there are also carvings of the 19th century on the walls.

The tomb is still one of the attraction places for people, although it has lost many of its properties during the restorations that took place during centuries. By the time, the tomb's environment has been surrounded by other timber structures of the dervish lodge and the main masonry dome was converted into another timber frame, squat dome during the repair progresses held by Pertevniyal Valide Sultan.

It is located within the Dervish Lodge established by Yahya Efendi in 1538. It has lost most of its original features due to numerous repair and restoration work over the centuries; however, it still attracts visitors' attention with its surrounding buildings and the landscape of its burial area. Also built there were a small mosque, a mansion, a school, cells, a hamam and a fountain beside the road.

Yahya Efendi Madrasa was located on a wide area in Sheik Yahya Efendi Dervish Lodge. The construction of madrasa started with small mosque, Turkish bath and fountain in 1538. New constructions were added to it in 18th century. In 19th century a large part of land of madrasa remained in the garden of Yıldız Palace and Çırağan Palace. That the name of this madrasa was not encountered in the list of madrasahs made in 1869 shows that it was pulled down before this date.

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SOKULLU ŞEHİT MEHMET PAŞA MOSQUE

Kadırga, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'18.0"N 28°58'19.0"E / 41.005000, 28.971944



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Comissioned by grand vizier Sokullu Mehmet Paşa (1506-1579) for his wife Ismihan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Selim II (1566-1574), the Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Complex at Kadırga was built by Sinan simultaneously with the Sultan Selim II Complex in Edirne. Most probably, Sinan designed the mosque before moving to Edirne and returned periodically to supervise construction. The four line inscription over the portal of the mosque gives 1571 as its construction date, and indicates that the site also housed the (collapsed) Aya Anastasia Church.

The mosque is officially named after Princess Esmahan, but is more commonly known for its association with her far more famous husband. The complex is composed of a mosque, a madrasa (theological school attached to a mosque), and a tekke (dervish lodge).

It is surrounded by walls that measure approximately two meters. There are three different entrances to the courtyard, which has a domed fountain in the middle. From the fountain, you can see the rooms in the madrasah. The audio and lighting system of the mosque is quite good, just like in all Mimar Sinan-built structures. Like in many historic buildings, the mosque is decorated with İznik tiles and handmade artwork.

It is also said that pieces of the Black Stone - also known as al Hajar ul Aswad, located in the Kaaba, whose origin is believed to date back to Prophet Adam - are embedded in the mosque's mihrab (alter), minber (pulpit) and dome sections. The mosque is important in this respect as well. There are 4 small pieces of Hajar al Aswad embedded in the walls. Each one is about 3 centimeters by 2 centimeters. One is over the mihrab, one is below the lower "pulpit", another is above the upper pulpit and the last is over the entrance door. The lowest one, below the lower pulpit can just be touched by standing on a red-carpeted step.

It was built on an inclined slope, where the Aya Anastasia Church had already been placed during the Byzantine period. The architecture of the complex is Sinan the Architecture,  who marked to the Ottoman Architecture. Prayer hall of the complex’s mosque, 15.30 x 18.80 m, is placed on six pier foundation and capped by a hexagonal dome with a diameter of 13 m. 

The decorative niche (mihrab) with its prismatic shape and pulpit are the finest example of marble workmanship of the time. Especially, the tile wainscot of the pulpit’s cone and providing glazed tiles on the both side of the niche have added an orginal pleasure to visual integrity. There are totally more than 90 windows in the mosque and these are usually concentrating on lateral facade and pulley. On the minaret of the mosque with a single sherefe (minaret balcony), which was built from cut stone, vertical lines exist that the Sinan the Architecture had already used in his works.

There is a madrasa of the complex that has 16 rooms and a classroom that the ceiling was composed of a dome in the inner court of the mosque. In the middle of the court, there is a fountain integrated with the court, which has also artistic value.

The complex is built on a site that descends to the south. The madrasa, the mosque and the tekke are placed from south to north. The main entrance to the complex is at the lowest part of the complex on the south, five meters below the courtyard level. One passes below the classroom of the madrasa and climbs a staircase to reach the courtyard. This ascending entrance creates a direct vista to the dodecagonal fountain with its tapering dome and the portico, sequentially rising to the graded structure of the mosque behind. From within, the modest-sized courtyard is dominated by the height of the mosque.

The courtyard is surrounded by the portico of the mosque on the south and by the madrasa on the other three sides. The classroom is elevated and fronted by a domed bay, and is accessed by two staircases along its sides. In volume, it is a square box measuring about six and a half meters per side; it is lit by twelve windows in two rows. Together with the classroom, the madrasa consists of sixteen symmetrically arranged domed cells, which are each about four meters wide. These cells are accessed through the doors beneath the portico, which is supported by eighteen columns.

The toilets of the madrasa are placed behind the eastern cells. The other two entrances to the courtyard are located at the northern ends of the western and eastern wings of the madrasa. The entrances lead to the side bays of the seven-bayed mosque portico. The portico encloses the (proportionally small) entrances to the minaret, which has a single balcony and is located on the southeastern corner of the prayer hall, and the entrances to the muezzin rooms above the side entrances.

The prayer hall is entered through the deep portal in the middle bay of the portico, and measures about fifteen and a half by nineteen meters. The elevated balcony over its entrance enhances the instant perception of the interior space. The main dome, which measures thirteen meters in diameter, surmounts the central space with an apex of twenty-six meters. The load from the dome is transferred to six "elephant feet," or colossal piers, located on the vertices of a slightly compressed equilateral hexagon by arches flanked by half domes.

Unlike in conventional placement, the semi-domes fit into the asymmetrical triangles between the main dome and the walls of the prayer hall, creating an innovative adoption of the structure to a new structural schema. This treatment of the zone of transition is unique to this mosque. These piers are elegantly embedded into the walls of the prayer hall, assisting the unity of the interior space. Four of these six feet, which have rectangular sections, divide the south and east walls into three sections. The western and eastern walls, with the two polygonal feet embedded in their centers, contain the narrow side galleries, where flat roofs are carried by iron structural members.

The marble platform for the müezzin, carried over five columns, is placed to the east of the entrance in the prayer hall. The graded structural development of the mosque on the exterior reflects the spatial configuration on the interior, with the graded levels of the muezzin's platform, the side galleries, and the balcony over the entrance. A total of ninety-eight windows light the prayer hall, eighteen of which pierce the drum of the dome, and the stained glass in the windows creates a colorful ambiance.

The mosque is highly ornamented, beginning with the portico frames; the tiled decoration climbs to the pendentives of the dome in the middle of the qibla wall. The marble mihrab, ornamented with polygonal arabesque and muqarnas carvings, is placed between the two tiled frames on the qibla wall. Stained glass is framed with plaster above the mihrab, and the tiled crown of the minbar completes the ornamental scheme. Compared to its contemporaries, this mosque also contains a large number of inscriptions. The tekke, which is entered from the south, is located four meters above the level of the mosque.

A domed entrance bay leads to the entrance hall, which is comprised of ten bays arranged in rows of five. Excepting the bay attached to the door of the religious ceremony space (tevhidhane), which is surmounted by a mirror vault, all of the bays are topped by domes. The religious ceremonial space is a single domed structure which measures about twelve and a half by seven and a half meters. Centered in a courtyard, this domed structure is surrounded by cells on its west and east sides. Both the eastern and western cell rows, which are, respectively, one and two stories high, are fronted by porticos.

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LALELİ MOSQUE COMPLEX

Laleli, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'37.0"N 28°57'23.0"E / 41.010278, 28.956389



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The complex is located in the Laleli neighbourhood of Eminönü at the intersection of Ordu Street and Fethi Bey Street. It was built by Sultan Mustafa III between 1760-1763, and the architect is thought to have been either Mehmed Tahir Ağa or Hacı Ahmed Ağa. The complex is made up of a mosque, a soup kitchen, a public fountain, a fountain with a spout, a mausoleum, an inn and a medresse. The mosque forms the centre of the complex. The substructure of the mosque functions as both a basement and a courtyard. The courtyard is above ground level and accessible by steps.

The Laleli mosque is located in the centre of this raised courtyard. It is one of the finest examples of 18th century Ottoman architect. The 24-window main dome is supported by three half domes located at the entrance and kiblah, or direction toward Mecca. There are two minarets each with a single gallery. The alem, or decorative metal device atop the minarets, are especially unusual. The mosque was designed in the Baroque style and is illuminated by 105 windows. The interior walls are covered with coloured porphyry marble.

The fountain and mausoleum of the complex are located on the corner of Ordu Street on the Aksaray side. The front tombs contain the remains of Sultan Mustafa III and Sultan Selim III. Next to them are the tombs of the Haseki Sultans. The inn of the complex is located to the north of the mosque on Fethi Bey Street and is still used as a market. The basement of the mosque, which was not originally used for commercial purposes, also serves as a marketplace today. The medresse of the complex has not survived to the present day.

The Laleli Complex was built between 1760 and 1763 by Sultan Mustafa III (1754-1757). It is the last royal complex to be built in Istanbul and follows the Ottoman baroque convention established at the Nuruosmaniye Complex built a decade earlier. Most scholars attribute this monument to Mehmed Tahir Ağa, while others have suggested a role for head-architect Hacı Ahmed Ağa. The word "Lale", in Turkish, is a tulip. The name Laleli, which the complex shares with its neighborhood, is thought to either refer to a local saint named Laleli Baba whose tomb stood near the mosque until the mid 1950's or the Laleli Fountain, which is mentioned in 18th century sources.

The complex consists of a mosque (cami), madrasa (medrese), soup-kitchen (imaret), fountain (çeşme), sabil, tombs (türbe), a room for the timekeeper of the mosque (muvakkithane), housing for the imam and muezzin and a han and stores built as an endowment for the religious foundation. The nearby Çukurcuma baths, although built earlier, are often considered a part of the Laleli complex. The mosque and soup kitchen are located inside a rectangular walled-in precinct that is raised considerably above the street level on a tall basement.

The precinct is entered through two main gates located at the two southern corners facing Ordu Street. Both gates are vaulted and open into ramps that lead up to the precinct level. The mosque is placed diagonally inside the precinct, with its qibla wall facing the southeast gate. The soup-kitchen is sited to its northwest. Flanking the southwest gate are the sabil and the Tomb of Sultan Mahmud III and Sultan Selim III, both of which are incorporated into the walls of the cemetery located at street level to the west of the raised precinct.

Oriented along the northwest-southeast axis, the mosque has of a square prayer hall and a rectangular courtyard about twice its size that precedes it to the northwest. The courtyard is enveloped by a continuous arcade composed of eighteen domed bays five of which form the mosque portico and has an ablution fountain at its center. It is entered through a main portal to the northwest, in axis with the mosque entrance, and two side entrances that flank the portico. The portal leading into the prayer hall is located at the center of the portico and bears an inscriptive plaque referring to the 1783 restoration. The Laleli complex was restored thoroughly after a fire in 1783.

A fire swept the neighborhood in 1911, destroying the madrasa, which was located on a side street to the east of the complex. What remained of the madrasa and the 18th century residential neighborhood was demolished in 1918 and development followed a newly established orthogonal street pattern. The monument's original context was disrupted a second time in 1956, during the enlargement of the highway to its south, when the precinct wall and gates were moved further north and new stores were built along its southern wall. Since then, Laleli has been gradually transformed from a residential to a touristic neighborhood that is centered on international trade.

The prayer hall is square, capped with a dome carried on eight tall columns that form an octagon in plan. The square hall is extended by a three-bay narthex to the northwest and rectangular mihrab apse projecting to the southeast. Side arcades composed of twelve bays flank the whole on the exterior. The narthex gallery has two balconies projecting to the right and left of the entrance carried on marble pillars. The right balcony, protected by a gilt screen, is reserved for the sultan and is accessed primarily through an enclosed and gated ramp outside the mosque. The left balcony is the müezzin's lodge.

The dome of the Laleli mosque is 12.50 meters in diameter at a height of 24.50 meters, about half the size and height of the dome at Nuruosmaniye. It is carried on an octagonal drum made of eight arches, with semi-domes attached to the corner arches and larger semi-domes joining the arches above mihrab and the central bay of the narthex. The eight columns that carry the dome arches are engaged with the side walls, with the exception of the two at the narthex. At the corners, angular squinches provide transition from the square plan to the octagonal crown.

The interior of the prayer hall is well-lit with twenty-four windows in the dome, five windows in the large semi-domes and three in each of the small semi-domes. There are also casement windows at ground level that open into the side arcades, and a tier of arched windows above, topped by circular windows below the dome arches. All windows, with the exception of the casements, are made up of combinations of white and colored glass. In addition to sculptural elements such as pilasters and cornices that animate the prayer hall, the interior of the Laleli mosque is enlivened by the polychrome arrangement made of marble wall panels that reflect various shades of yellow, red and blue.

The mihrab and minbar are also made of precious marbles. On the exterior, the dome on its octagonal drum sits flatly on the large rectangular mass its understructure, which is crowned with large weight turrets at its corners. The baroque character is expressed with regularly spaced pilasters with spreading capitals that merge into the thick cornice that unites the prayer hall and the courtyard. Concave pilasters are also employed between the dome windows, among them eight curved buttresses.

Minarets
There are two minarets located at either end of the portico flanking the courtyard entrances; they have single balconies and stone caps. The left minaret was built about six years after the completion of the mosque. The construction is two courses of brick alternated with a single layer of cut stone, with the exception of the minarets and superstructure, which are made entirely of cut stone.

Inn
The Çukurçeşme or Sunken Fountain han is also called the Büyük Taş Han or big stone han. Its irregular plan manifests the constraints of the urban fabric at its time of construction. It has a long rectangular porticoed court that is entered through a long vaulted passage to the south; passages here lead into two smaller courtyards. The inn of the complex is located to the north of the mosque on Fethi Bey Street and is still used as a market. The basement of the mosque, which was not originally used for commercial purposes, also serves as a marketplace today.

The plan of this too is almost indescribable. We enter through a very long vaulted passage, with rooms and a small court leading from it, and emerge into a large courtyard, in the middle of which a ramp descends into what were once the stables. Around this porticoed courtyard open rooms of most irregular shape, and other passages lead to two additional small courts with even more irregular rooms! One seems to detect in this the ingenious but perverse mind of Mehmet Tahir Ağa. The han has now been restored and houses a restaurant and shops.

The Basement
The original function of the basement underneath the Laleli mosque is not known. Built of regularly spaced piers and covered with vaults, it remained enclosed until 1957, when its southern wall was torn down during highway expansion. It was then converted into an underground shopping plaza with a western entrance and a row of stores was added facing Ordu Street to the south. The underground plaza has a fountain at its center and is lit through large basement windows placed around the mosque walls.

The Tombs and Cemetery
The Tomb of Sultan Mustafa III and Sultan Selim III and the sabil are located along the cemetery wall to the west of the southwest precinct gate. In addition to Sultan Mustafa III, the tomb houses his mother Mihrişah Sultan, his son and later successor Sultan Selim III, his daughters Hibetullah and Fatma Sultans and Mihrimah Sultan. It is an octagonal building crowned with a dome and preceded by a portico to the north. Its exterior appearance is marked by wide corner pilasters and thick cornices that wrap the building between the two tiers of windows and below the recessed drum.

Sixteenth century tiles adorn the tomb on the interior crowned by a wide band of calligraphy that envelops the walls. A smaller tomb inside the cemetery houses the graves of the Sultan Mustafa III's favorites or Haseki Sultanlar. There is a third, open tomb dedicated to Adilşah Kadın; it is protected by an intricate bronze canopy.

Sabil
The sabil is raised on a circular base and has concave windows facing the street. Its windows are covered with bronze lattices that were originally gilt and the wide segments of its large eave resembles the petals of a flower.

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MERKEZ EFENDİ MOSQUE

Zeytinburnu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'57.0"N 28°55'11.0"E / 41.015833, 28.919722



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Merkezefendi Mosque dates back to 1580 and was once part of a large complex but many of the buildings have since been lost.  It was built with the assistance of Şah Sultan, a daughter of Sultan Selim II.  It underwent a complete makeover in 1837 and inside the stone exterior there is a lovely wooden interior that has a curtained mihrab painted on the back wall. Merkez Efendi was famous for his strength as well as for inventing mesir paste and having served as a doctor.

The Merkez Efendi Mosque was built on the site of a dervish lodge which had been commissioned by Süleyman the Great and built by the architect Sinan in 1517. After the death of Merkez Efendi, the mosque that bears his name was built in his memory between 1552-1572.

According to another story, the mosque’s construction began in 1580 and it opened to worshipers in 1582. Restored during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II, the mosque still bears many of the features of the original.

Built on a rectangular plan, the mosque is made of stone. Its door and windows were made from round brick arches The tomb of Merkez Efendi and his family, a public fountain, a cistern to supply water to the mosque, and the çilehane are all found in the mosque’s wide courtyard.

The wooden mansion on the right used to be the harem building of the Merkezefendi complex. It has been restored and will most likely be used to hold cultural activities in the future. There are other aspects of the square that captivated us upon first sight such as its popular grilled meat restaurant, a Turkish bath waiting to be restored and some wooden mansions. Yet the cultural valley does not only comprise this square.

The beautiful Abdülbaki Paşa Library (Neyhane) can be found just outside of the gate; the mosque was originally a primary school and was then used as a storage facility until its restoration in 2007.

Today you will find a tearoom, a library and a cultural centre with lovely painted panels reworked on the domed ceiling.  Close by is a large wooden mansion the Merkezefendi Konağı or Mansion that was restored in 2009.

Tomb
The tomb of Merkez Efendi (1463-1552) is attached to the mosque and where many pilgrims still visit today. Süleyman the Great frequently visited his tomb which is located in the mosque’s courtyard.

Çilehane
Next to the tomb is a çilehane built in keeping with the beliefs and traditions of Merkez Efendi’s sect. Merkez Efendi was said to gone here to isolate himself from the world.

Cemetery
The Merkezefendi Cemetery (Turkish: Merkezefendi Mezarlığı) is a burial ground situated in Merkezefendi neighborhood of Zeytinburnu district on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey.
Many renowned intellectuals, writers and artists rest in this old cemetery covering an area of 27,800 m2 (299,000 sq ft). In 2007, the cemetery was fully renovated. Currently, burials are allowed only for the members of families with existing graves

The cemetery was established in the 16th century with the construction of the tomb of Merkez Efendi at this location. It was extended in the 1950s, and another cemetery, the Kozlu Cemetery was established 100 m (330 ft) far from this place.

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