HÜRREM ÇAVUŞ MOSQUE

Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'19.1"N 28°56'11.6"E / 41.021972, 28.936556



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Hirka-i Şerif Camii is built on a high terrace, partly artificial; to the south a long staircase leads down to a lower monumental gateway opening from the street below, Keçeciler Caddesi, the Avenue of the Goat Herder. If turn right (west) and follow this street, we come after 500 metres or so to a little mosque on the left which is of no interest save that its architect was Sinan. It was built in 1560, as an inscription shows, by a certain Hürrem who was a çavuş (messenger) in the Divan.

It is of the rectangular type with wooden roof and porch; restorations are recorded in 1844 and 1901. Perhaps because of these, it has lost any charm it may once have had. Just across the lane from the garden of the mosque there is a pleasant tea house named after Koca Mimar Sinan, the architect. One might feel inclined to rest here for awhile and have a glass or two of tea before strolling back to the main avenue.

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DRAMAN MOSQUE

Draman, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'43.9"N 28°56'38.7"E / 41.028870, 28.944077



Yunus Bey, the translator (Dragoman) of Sultan Süleyman, had Architect Sinan build the Draman Mosque in 1541, which is 200 m far from Fethiye Mosque. It is said that after the death of Yunus Bey, his brother Mustafa Bey had the mosque completed to measurements of 13.57 x 12 m. It is single vaulted.

The inscription on the mosque is the work of Ebussuud Efendi, Sheikh ul-islam of the Ottoman Sultanate. The lodge lost its features during the restoration works held after the fire of 1729 and later it was called Sheikh Isazade. It was rebuilt by Sultan Mustafa III in 1764. The mosque, having been repaired many times for different reasons, was used continually until the abolishment of the lodges in 1925.

The Mosque received fire damage in 1729 and repaired by Sultan Ahmet III in the same year. It was restored in 1746 by a decree from Sultan Osman III, and once again in 1873 by Sultan Abdülaziz. During the 1985 restoration, the upper structure was renewed as a masonry dome. The portico has been enclosed; the fountain is not original either. The courtyard of the Mosque is now used by the Fatih Müftülüğü Tercüman Yunus Kuran Kursu, for religious studies.

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MİHRİMAH SULTAN ÜSKÜDAR MOSQUE

Üsküdar Square - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'36.7"N 29°00'57.9"E / 41.026861, 29.016083



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Located in Üsküdar Square across from the quay, the complex was built by Sultan Süleyman, the Magnificient daughter, Mihrimah Sultan, in 1548. The architect was Mimar Sinan. The complex contains a mosque, medresse, tomb, primary school, caravanserai, soup kitchen, hospice and hospital. Only a part of the complex has survived.

It is one of the two complexes in Istanbul which were built on the instructions of Süleyman the Magnificient in 1548 in memory of his daughter Mihrimah Sultan, and has an attribute of carrying the same name in Edirnekapi District. The historical complex was located over against the port side of Uskudar in 1548. In addition, it was built by Sinan the Architect  in the same period with the Şehzade Mosque (Prince Mosque).

It contained a mosque, a school for children, a fountain, a medresse consisting of sixteen rooms, a guesthouse of eight rooms, a stable, a larder, a store house and a caravanserai. It now consists of five sections: mosque, madrasah (theological school attached to a mosque), the tomb of Sinaneddin Yusuf Paşa and the tomb of İbrahim Ethem Paşa.

Originally built by the seaside, the complex includes mosque, madrasa, boys’ school buildings, and the tomb of the Grand Admiral Sinan Pasha. The plan of the mosque is unique to the architecture of Sinan and the design scheme has never been repeated again. Its courtyard is elevated, overlooking the hustle and bustle of Üsküdar Square. One of the main and unique design features here is the way one enters the interior space, underneath the main dome as in the Edirnekapı Mihrimah Sultan Mosque. Since the mosque is at a busy central point in the city, it is open until late every day.

Sinan never designed a second mosque with three domes, leaving the Mihrimah Sultan as the only example of its type. However, this exploration of structural configurations came to influence his later work.

The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque (Iskele Mosque, Jetty Mosque, Üsküdar Quay Mosque, Turkish: Mihrimah Sultan Camii, İskele Camii) is an Ottoman mosque located in the historic center of the Üsküdar municipality in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque is one of Üsküdar's best-known landmarks and takes its nicknames from the ferry landing near which it stands. It is the first of two mosques built by Mihrimah Sultana, daughter of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and wife of Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha. It was designed by Mimar Sinan and built between 1546 and 1548. It is a massive structure on a raised platform and already shows several hallmarks of Sinan's mature style; a spacious, high-vaulted basement, slender minarets, a single-domed baldacchino flanked by three semi-domes ending in three exedrae and a broad double portico. Mihr-î-Mah means Sun and Moon.

One of the early works of Mimar Sinan, this complex was built on the instructions of Süleyman the Magnificient in 1548 in memory of his daughter Mihrimah Sultan, whose mother was the famous Roxlene. It contained a mosque, a school for children, a fountain, a medresse consisting of sixteen rooms, a guesthouse of eight rooms, a stable, a larder, a store house and a caravanserai.

Mosque

On a sloping site along Iskele Square in Üskudar, the mosque has a rectangular plan aligned on the northeast-southwest axis. The diameter of the dome of the mosque is 10 m. There are two huge minarets having one balcony (sherefe) each. The decorative niche (mihrab) and the marble pulpit (mimber) reflect the formats of the Classical Ottoman Architecture. It is one of the few premier structures preserving the traces of the past on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. While the structure offers a distinct aesthetic view with a porch that covers the last prayer section, there is a twenty-cornered fountain located on the seaward side of the mosque.

It is entered from a portal on the northwest, the central bay of a five-bay portico. Surmounted by five domes, the open portico is carried by six columns along its northwest side. Running along the northwest side of the mosque is a secondary arcade, which is as deep as the portico and is carried over pointed arches resting on relatively slim columns. This arcade extends northwest to cover the circular fountain, which is on axis with the portal of the mosque. Made of marble, the portal carries an inscription with the construction date of 1547 that names Mihrimah Sultan and Süleyman the Magnificent as its patrons.

Architect Sinan opted for a design of the mosque more modern than that of Ayasofya Mosque. The half dome which is usually present above the entryway is absent; immediately upon entering the mosque one is under the main dome. The "Şadırvan", or ablution fountain, is one of the finest of all the mosques in İstanbul . The repousse ornamentation found on the window shutters, pulpits, and the marble mosque niche (mihrap) are products of expert workmanship.

The Mihrimah Sultan is one of Sinan's early mosques, where he made a structural experiment, choosing to flank the main dome on three sides with three half-domes. This was the first time Sinan used half-domes, with the end result that the spatial organization and the structural system of the mosque are not perfectly resolved. The asymmetry in the structure entailed both a heavy structure and an unusual configuration on the southeast elevation, which ended abruptly.

The portico was not adequate to overcome the effect of the southeast elevation, so another large arcade was added, which extended to cover the fountain. Another side effect of the asymmetrical design was the immediate entry into the prayer hall, which impaired the sense of spatial depth. However, this quick entry also created the opportunity for the visitor to experience all of the interior space simultaneously.

Above the prayer hall, the main dome has sixteen windows; the main dome and the three half-domes are supported with twin buttresses that appear on four sides of the exterior. The south and east corner bays of the prayer hall are surmounted with two smaller domes. The muezzin's platform (muezzin mahfili), which is carried over five piers, is articulated as a small square projection southwest of the entrance. The minbar is placed just across the muezzin's platform on the qibla wall, southwest of the mihrab. The mihrab itself is a marble niche with muqarnas carvings above.

The interior space is adorned with painted ornamentation, and the upper windows, as well as the windows in the domes, are filled with stained glass. The mosque has two minarets on the north and west corners of the prayer hall, both with single balconies. They are entered from the first and fifth bays of the portico. Their balconies have balustrades with stonework carried over four rows of stalactite carvings.

On the righthand wall of the mosque, next to the entrance to the graveyard, there is a sun dial, built by the Dervish Gaybî Muhyiddin, the timekeeper of the Yeni Camii. This was built in 1769 and was called the "Basita". The clock is one of the best examples of sun dials in İstanbul.

Mihrimah Sultan Complex
The Mihrimah Sultan mosque was built for Mihrimah Sultan, daughter of Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566), as part of a complex that includes a madrasa, an infirmary, a school, and baths.

One of the early works of Mimar Sinan, this complex was built on the instructions of Süleyman the Magnificient in 1548 in memory of his daughter Mihrimah Sultan, whose mother was the famous Roxlene. It contained a mosque, a school for children, a fountain, a medresse consisting of sixteen rooms, a guesthouse of eight rooms, a stable, a larder, a store house and a caravanserai.

The other sections of the mosque could not be reached until today. The Madrasah (religious school) is composed of 16 rooms that is being used as a health clinic today, the tomb of the two sons of Mihrimah Sultan, the tomb of the Osman Ağa, son of Rüstem Pasa-Grand (Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire), and the tomb of Sinan Paşa, Admirals of the Navy  (Kaptan-ı Derya) are the structures that have stood until today.

Unfortunately, the soup kitchen and the caravanserai of this complex have not survived. At the time of "Sürre Alayı", an event which was organized during Ottoman times to send candidates for the pilgrimage to Mekka and Medina every year, many of the candidates stayed in the Mihrimah Sultan caravanserai.

The other building in the complex is a Quranic primary school (Sıbyan Mektebi), which consisted of a domed porch and classroom. The tabhane (hostel) disappeared during the fire in 1772 and the inn and kitchen have also been completely cleared away.

Today, the medresse is used as a health center and the school for the children is now a childrens library. There is a fountain located next to the wall closest to the Bosphorus and another one under the school. The Square Baths (the Grand Baths) was removed at the end of the 80's. The building that has replaced it no longer resembles the original form, and is now used as a super market.

The medresse is found to the north of the mosque. The interior of the medresse no longer resembles its original form and is used as a health center today. The tombs of Mihrimah Sultan's two sons and Prime Minister İbrahim Ethem Paşa can be seen between the mosque and the medresse. The primary school is found on the kiblah (direction facing Mecca) side of the mosque. The hospice, soup kitchen and caravanserai have not survived.

On the righthand wall of the mosque, next to the entrance to the graveyard, there is a sun dial, built by the Dervish Gaybî Muhyiddin, the timekeeper of the Yeni Camii. This was built in 1769 and was called the "Basita". The clock is one of the best examples of sun dials in İstanbul.

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ŞAH SULTAN MOSQUE

Bahariye, Eyüp - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°03'12.4"N 28°56'09.5"E / 41.053444, 28.935972



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It is located in the Silahdarağa Avenue in Bahariye of Eyüp. This mosque is by the seaside on the Golden Horn (Haliç). It is about 300 m from the Eyüp boat landing. There were a group buildings, such as dervish lodge, school, tomb, living quarters, and dervish cells, all built in the name of Müsliheddin Musa Efendi, where this mosque is located.

You can enter the courtyard from the door that opens to the avenue. This temple is the work of Mimar Sinan. There is a small mihrap (niche) in the space in the late comers’ area over which there is a wooden roof supported by six wooden pillars.

Its minaret is on the right hand side and was repaired. There is a three-lined epigraph over the arched entrance of this square-planned temple. The temple was made of one row of brick and two rows of hewn stone. Its roof is covered with wood and bricks. It was built by Şâh Sultan.

Şah Sultan added the mosque here in 1555-1556, built by Sinan. In 1812, the Tomb of Merkezzade Şeyh Ahmet Efendi was added to its southeast corner. The ruins of the tomb of the original donor was later demolished during the restorations in 1953.

Şah Sultan (died 1572) was an Ottoman princess, daughter of Sultan Selim I and Ayşe Hafsa Sultan and sister of Sultan Süleyman I. She was raised in Manisa and married in 1523 to the future Grand Vizier and sufic Lütfi Pasha. Her spouse became Grand Vizier in 1539. The couple had two daughters. In 1541, she divorced her spouse, who was also deposed from his position.

The divorce took place on her initiative, allegedly because of her husband's adultery: adultery from the side of the husband was actually not accepted as ground for divorce according to Islamic law, which lead to a dispute. She had the Shah Sultan-mosque built in 1555-1556.

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HASEKİ SULTAN (HÜRREM) COMPLEX

Haseki, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'30.8"N 28°56'30.6"E / 41.008556, 28.941833



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Haseki Hürrem Sultan Complex is located on Sami Pasha (Özbek Süleyman Efendi) street, on Haseki neighborhood in Fatih district a little further up from the Bayram Pasha Complex, and built between 1539 and 1551 behalf of Hürrem who was the haseki (favorite concubine) of Sultan Süleyman I.

Haseki Külliye is located in the Haseki region which takes its name from this complex of buildings built in the name of wife of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificient, Hürrem Sultan (Roxalana). Since the primary date of the construction is 1538-1539 the architect of this complex is said to be Sinan. But there is a controversy on this topic since the buildings are not listed in the architect’s works. But the construction date and the fact that these are built in the name of Süleyman’s dearest companion it must be under the chief architect’s control.

This complex has built in different in stages in different time periods. There is a mosque, an imaret (big house for kitchens and related functions) darüşşifa (house for health) madrasah, sibyan mektebi (school for young children, primary school), small cemetery and a wooden house in the complex. The mosque has been changed from the original state and the other ones damaged and rebuilt after the fires and earthquakes. (1918 big İstanbul fire, 1894 earthquake) All buildings except the mosque group together within a wall, but the mosque is left standing alone on the other side of the road.

Built for Haseki Hürrem Sultan, this kulliye is the first important complex to be taken on by Sinan after he was appointed chief architect. It is composed of a mosque, a medrese, a primary school, a hospital and a refectory which was later added to the complex (1550). In situating his buildings at different angles and leaving narrow passages and gaps between them, Sinan chose an organic approach rarely to be seen in his subsequent works, resulting in rich perspective effects.

The single domed mosque was to be later enlarged with an extra module (1612). Together with the neighbouring Bayram Pasha Kulliye (1635), the complex formed an important social centre. General planning of the complex looks somehow disorderly. It is because of the different stages of construction and the neighborhood’s dense population and irregular housing layout.

The third largest religious complex in the city, this area was constructed in a district in Istanbul known as Avrat Pazarı, which came to be called Haseki, the name it bears today. In the early 1550s, a hospital for women and a soup kitchen were added to the complex; the mosque residing there was enlarged in the early 17th century. The Haseki Complex is Sinan’s very first accomplishment.

He built the structures that make up this complex when he was declared master builder of the Royal Ottoman Architectural Guild; they attest to his creativity even at the beginning of his career.  These buildings can be viewed only from the outside as the mosque is the only building in the complex that is still in use and can be visited.  At a later date, the mosque was doubled in size by adding one more domed structure to it.  We can observe traces from early Ottoman architecture in the details of the section that was originally built by Sinan.

The general character and particular features such as the lotus flower column capitals, show that the primary school is also a work of these years. Although an inscription inside the hospital's entrance hall gives its construction date as 945 (1538/39), it cannot be accepted as s, reliable document for dating the building since this inscription plate was placed on the wall in 1911 (329 A.H.) when the hospital was restored.

On the other hand, the construction date of the hospice is known; for its outer gate is inscribed. It was built in 1550 (957 A.H.) by the order of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. In the analysis of this building complex, one observes that while the individual buildings are well designed there is no strong architectural order among them. Except for the hospital and the hospice which have a geometric relationship, the site planning does not exhibit a definite pattern.

This deficiency in site planning cannot be attributed to its architect's lack of talent and experience. Although the great Sinan was still in his architectural prime when he built the Haseki Complex, he had many well designed complexes at his disposal to study. What may have happened is this : the Haseki Complex was not planned as a whole, but was built in several stages.

The first building of the complex is obviously the mosque which was built in 1538/39. It was ordered by Haseki Hürrem (Roxelana) and designed and erected for her by Sinan. Then came the medrese and the primary school which were built the following year across the street from the mosque. In the third stage, the hospital and the hospice were planned. The latter was ordered in 1550 not by Haseki Hürrem but by her husband and curiously, this building is not recorded in any of the lists on Sinan's works.

One must therefore conclude that it was not designed and constructed by Sinan, who was occupied with the planning of the Siileymaniye at that time. The hospital, on the other hand, was ordered by Haseki Hurrem and is definitely one of Sinan's work. It is possible that the hospital was built before the hospice between 1540 and 1550. If this is the case, then the hospice was architectually related to it at a later date.

But the opposite seems more the case. That is to say, the hospital which has a number of awkward architectural elements, was designed in this manner because the architect had to fit his building in a lot that was restricted by streets, the medrese and the hospice on all four sides. It is therefore more likely that the hospital was built between 1550 and 1557, the year of Haseki Hürrem's death. The third largest religious complex in the city, this area was constructed in a district in Istanbul known as Avrat Pazarı, which came to be called Haseki, the name it bears today.

In the early 1550s, a hospital for women and a soup kitchen were added to the complex; the mosque residing there was enlarged in the early 17th century. It is Sinan’s first commission as royal architect, a product of his early years before he became world-famous for numerous structures throughout the city. A rarity during Ottoman times, the entire complex was commissioned by a wife of a Sultan and funded by her own money. The hospital there still serves women to this day.

Mosque
The first mosque on the site was completed in 1539 and had a single dome over a square space. In front was a latecomers’ area with five domes. Ahmet I added a domed section to the east of the structure in 1612 that some believe ruined it. The carved mithrab was filled with stalactites and decorated in a baroque style. The minbar pulpit has been decorated with wooden geometric dovetailing. The mosque and its dependencies were built by Sinan and completed in 1539, making these the earliest known works by him in the city.

The mosque is disappointing: originally it consisted of a small square room covered by a dome on stalactited pendentives, preceded by a rather pretentious porch of five bays which overlapped the building at both ends. It may perhaps have had a certain elegance of proportion and detail. But in 1612 a second and identical room was added on the north, the north wall being removed and its place taken by a great arch supported on two columns. The mihrab was then moved to the middle of the new extended east wall so that it stands squeezed behind one of the columns. The result is distinctly unpleasing.

Madrasah
Madrasah is located on the southeast of the complex facing the mosque on the other side of the road. Foundational record in the door dates the building 1551. Madrasah’s plan consists of a central open courtyard and around it a portico and small study cells each enclosed by a dome. There are 16 cells in the building around the courtyard. Each cell has its own fire stove (a kind of fireplace for heating and cooking) and a small window.

The entrance is from the inner court of the complex from a small garden which is also a playground for the primary school (sibyan mektebi) in the west side. You can see the domes of the madrasah and the imaret in the photos below. Building has a main large classroom on the central axis of the plan. This big classroom has also a dome which is higher and greater in size.

The unique adornments, upon the column’s capitals of the square planned madrasah, was completed between the years 1538 and 1540, cannot be seen anywhere else. The school has a monumental porch, which is entered from the gate on the left of the madrasahs’ courtyard, consists of two parts which colud be used in winter and summer.

Primary School (Sıbyan Mektebi)
The small school’s plan consists of two rectangular spaces one of which is a closed classroom and the other is a semi closed courtyard. Courtyard has one wall with top windows on the road side which is a part of the outer wall that encloses the complex and also separates it from the road. This space is used as a classroom in warm season and a play area for younger children. There is also a small pool in the garden in front of the school which has changed in time but still features some old details and provides a calming atmosphere.

The madrasah and the school form an educational unit within the complex and have a separate door from the road which opens between these two buildings. The canopy covering the entrance is an extended part of the schools roof which forms an impressive umbrella like form (sitting at the top of the stone wall) as a finishing detail. School’s walls are consist of both stone and brick. Red bricks are used in the archs in the north façade.

The most amazing part of this building is the wooden ceiling which consists of magnificent wooden shapes that form a quasi-crystalline structure. Such decagonal and quasi-crystalline tilings can be found in Islamic buildings on ceramic tiles, stone work and wooden ornamentations. But these ceiling was swollen and damaged because the roof was in bad condition. Our task was to draw the architectural project of the Külliye and its buildings in their damaged and present form. While working on the school we realized that the roof was leaking and the wooden tiles were damaged by rain water since some of the metal claddings of the roof were missing.

Worst of all we realized on a Monday thieves stole the rest of the metal claddings and left the roof structure open, just after we delivered our report about this school with its missing roof claddings and presented on Friday to the Department of Foundations which was the authorized body in this project. The thieves were never found. (and I curse them ever since) Unfortunately it took quite a long time before they fixed the ceiling due to inefficient bureaucracy and the ceiling got damaged some more.

Cure House (Darüşşifa)
This health house is the most extraordinary building within the complex with its original plan and form. From a beautiful portal in the north one can enter a courtyard with an octagonal plan. The spaces surrounding the courtyard have domes which planned as spatial and flexible areas. These areas serve as treatment stations. Some of the small rooms are thought to be designed for medicine preparations and larger ones as patient dorms.

At this medical facility all kinds of illnesses were to be treated. Two physicians, two surgeons, two ophthalmologists, two pharmacists, two pharmacy assistants, one secretary, one steward, one cook, one cellar master, four patient attendants, two servants, two laundrymen and other personnel for a total of 28 employees. Two days a week medicine was dispensed free of charge to those who wanted it from outside the hospital. The physicians didn’t just have to be good doctors; they had also to be always smiling, perceptive and knowledgeable, among other attributes specified in the foundation deed.

The hospital is behind the medrese, entered from the street behind the külliye to the north. It is a building of most unusual form: the court is octagonal but without a columned portico. The two large corner rooms at the back, whose great domes have stalactited pendentives coming far down the walls, originally opened to the courtyard through huge arches, now glassed-in; with these open rooms or eyvans all the other wards and chambers of the hospital communicated.

The structure, behind the madrasah, measures 27 x 34.8 meters and serves as hospital. The domes of the cut stone hospital, which was built in 1550, are bricks. The hospital, with two iwans and having 22 rooms, was converted into a centre in 1848 especially where women in need of nursing were cured. A part of the hospital was arranged as a jail for women in 1869.

The assignment of a doctor to the hospital in 1871 prevented inconvenience into the medical services. The hospital, whose patient numbers continually increased, was expanded a bit more by inclusion of the Moralı Ali Bey Mansion in 1882. When the buildings, which were restored in 1911, were damaged in the fire of 1918, the hospital was closed for some time. The hospital, restored between in years 1946 and 1948, then resumed its service.

Kitchen (İmaret)
This building is not listed in the Sinan’s works but considered to be under his supervision. Kitchen spaces are planned with a central courtyard like other buildings with portico and domed roofs. The impressive part of the building is the roof with its funnels on top of the domes that provide an original form for the entire complex. From the north façade these domes and the funnels composition form a stunning silhouette.

Külliye has also a wooden house on the south façade which is supposed to be built for the imam of the mosque. House is also in poor condition and waiting to be renovated with the whole complex. The imaret, built of cut and rubble stone, is dated to 1540, and is encircled a porched courtyard. According to its inscription, the plain fountain of the imaret to the left of the gate on the street was built in 1766.

The imaret, which was still in use up until the early 1970s, is beyond the mektep, entered through a monumental portal which leads to an alleyway. At the end of this, one enters the long rectangular courtyard of the imaret, shaded with trees. Vast kitchens with large domes and enormous chimneys (better seen from inside at the back) line three sides of the courtyard.

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ZAL MAHMUT PASHA MOSQUE COMPLEX

Eyüp - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'42.0"N 28°56'09.0"E / 41.045000, 28.935833



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The Zal Mahmud Paşa Complex was built between Zal Paşa Street and Defterdar Street in the Eyüp district. Zal Mahmud, the Vizier of Suleiman the Magnificient and his wife Şah Sultan, a daughter of Sultan Selim II, had it built by Sinan the Architecture (the grand master of Ottoman architecture). The complex is composed of a madrasa, a fountain, and the tombs of  the builders of the complex. Although the construction date is unknown, the complex is estimated to have been built in 1577.

The Zal Mahmud complex was built by the architect Sinan and commissioned by Shah Sultan, daughter of Sultan Selim II (1566-1574), and her husband, the Ottoman vizier Zal Mahmud Pasha (both d. 1580). Due to deteriorated inscriptions and inconsistent documentation, which provide dates ranging from 1551 and 1579, the exact construction date cannot be pinpointed.

Standing on an inclined site in Eyüp between two avenues that run along its east and west sides, the complex can be entered via portals on either side. It consists of the mosque and the tomb on the south side, and the upper and lower madrasas on the north side of the site. The Complex includes a mosque, a tomb, and two madrasas built at two different levels. The mosque and a room of the madrasa, which was later converted into a masjid, are open to the public.

The central area of the mosque, with a dome of 12.40 m, is flanked by side galleries. The porch, with its flat ceiling enclosing the middle of the mosque, is supported by four columns. The decorative niche conforms with the classical Ottoman architectural tradition. The inner decoration of the mosque, which underwent renovation between 1955 and 1963, was renewed in the classical style.

On the side walls are an arrangement of two distichous window rows at close intervals, which is an unseen style in the other works of Sinan the architecture. The walls of the mosque composed of stone and brick. Additionally, the fountain of the complex is made of cut stones set in a rectangular frame.

The design scheme of the complex is unique and unlike any others designed by Sinan. The tall bearing walls, with numerous window openings, evoke a feeling of magnificence even from Sütlüce, across the Golden Horn.

Beneath the mosque on the lower side is a basement floor that supports the mosque with two elephant pillars and rows of smaller pillars. This area opens onto a courtyard ringed by one of the medreses, referred to as the lower medrese. The upper medrese, which is on the same level as the mosque portico, forms a delightful courtyard with a fountain. The medrese itself has 13 cells of varying sizes and shapes, a classroom and a fountain. The lower medrese is L-shaped with 11 cells and a classroom. Both medreses have porticos running in front of them.

In the Zal Mahmut Pasa complex, Sinan shifted from the graded pyramidal structures of his earlier mosques, building a large, pierced rectangular box with a single dome that is twelve and a half meters in diameter. On the exterior, the effect of the dome diminishes next to the height and monolithic character of the exterior walls. The five-bay portico attached to the north of the prayer hall attempts to balance the massing.

The center bay of the portico, distinguished from the other (domed) four by its mirror vault, highlights the portal of the mosque. The portal features a wooden door topped with muqarnas carvings. Entering through the portal to the north of the prayer hall, one sees four small columns carrying the upper gallery, which block the view of the dome.

The unexpected experience of limited vision continues, as the central space is dimly lit in comparison to the side galleries. Further into the prayer hall, the dome above the central space rests on large pendentives over four colossal piers, or "elephant feet". The arches are plainly visible, a departure from Sinan's pyramidal mosques, where the arches are embedded in the supporting semi-domes.

Overall, the mosque is a relatively simple composite structure of brick and stone. As it represents a departure from Sinan's other mosques and his developmental trajectory, it may have been one of his experimental works. Alternatively, it could have been designed by another architect. With the revelation of the arches, the side galleries become independent structures. They hold many windows, some reaching up to the level of their flat roofs, and are better-lit than the central space.

On the qibla wall, the pentagonal mihrab niche features two small columns on its sides and a pencil-work frame. On the exterior, the single-balcony minaret stands at the northwestern corner of the mosque and is entered from the western bay of the portico. On its east elevation, the mosque has a vaulted basement floor that opens to the lower courtyard with rows of arched columns. Two massive piers, exposed on the south elevation, soften its flatness.

The irregularities in the plan continue in the tectonics of the complex; one finds unequal arch lengths, columns that do not match, and unrelated masonry patterns. These mixtures provide no clear statements concerning the architect's intentions or the possible stages of construction and renovation.

The mosque is large but not gigantic. Its dome is a mere 12.5 meters (slightly over 41 feet) in diameter. Unlike earlier, Sinan-designed mosques, it is set on a rectangular box rather than on half domes, and the box which rests on huge “elephant” piers has openings to provide light to the interior.

The exterior portico has five bays with the central one containing the opening to the interior of the mosque. The mosque is entered through a wooden door. The galleries within the mosque also contain windows so the overall effect is one of light and spaciousness. It has only one minaret, made entirely of one piece of stone, with a single balcony for the muezzin.

The complex suffered damage several times, beginning in the seventeenth century. Deserted in 1808, it was restored in 1825 and was preserved until the 1894 earthquake, during which its minaret, along with other parts of the complex, was demolished. Following the replacement of the minaret, the mosque was again abandoned in 1930. The interior ornament was restored during the 1955-1963 renovations. 1964 is the last documented date of a restoration at the complex.

Madrasa

The madrasa, which also departs from a conventional, symmetrical typology in favor of an organic plan development, is located on the north end of the site, forming two adjacent clusters on two levels. Connected to the northeast corner of the mosque by a staircase, the two clusters were developed independently. Therefore, they are usually referred as two separate madrasas, the "upper" and the "lower."

The U-shaped plan of the upper madrasa creates a fountain courtyard within the portico of the mosque. It consists of thirteen cells of different types and sizes, and a larger classroom. The cells on the western wing follow a rectilinear typology along the courtyard side. On the other side, their shape becomes trapezoidal, conforming to the shifting boundary of the site. These cells have mirror vaults; the eastern wing's five sequential cells are all topped with domes.

The classroom is located north of the upper madrasa, and is shifted from the central axis. On its east is a mirror-vaulted rectangular room; three domed cells and a trapezoidal cell are found on its west. A portico runs along the northern and eastern edges; the western wing is left blank, drawing focus to the fountain in the courtyard.

The lower madrasa is L-shaped in plan, with seven identical domed cells on its north, and four typologically different cells and a classroom on its east. All are fronted with a portico. The first of the seven cells attached to the upper madrasa shift to the north, doubling the depth of the portico bay, which results in an elongated mirror vault. The other six bays of the portico have identical domes, whereas the domes on the east vary in size. A fountain is located at the southeastern corner of the madrasa, next to the eastern portal of the complex.

Tomb
The Tomb is at the lower level of the Complex which was designed in two levels on a sloping site. The interior decorations of the Tomb were repaired during the 1960 restoration. It is closed to visitors, but it is possible to view the Tomb through the window openings.

Zal Mahmut and his wife Shah Sultan are buried in the complex’s tomb which is covered by an octagonal dome ceiling with a diameter of 5.10 m.  Devoted to one another with great love, the couple fell ill simultaneously and died within a short interval of time in 1577. Shah Sultan, the daughter of Sultan Selim II, chose to be buried with her husband in this tomb that they had built together instead of the royal Selim II Tomb at Hagia Sophia with her sisters.

Zal Mahmut Paşa Tomb is a fragment of an important Ottoman complex, built by Architect Sinan during the period of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificant. It takes place on the eastern side of the complex. This structure is on the courtyard of the lower madrasa and consists of Zal Mahmut's (vizier during Sultan Süleyman the Magnificant and Sultan Selim II) and Shah Sultan's (daughter of Sultan Selim II) graves.

The tomb is remarkable with its plan which is octagonal on extrior and rectangular inside. Zal Mahmut Paşa Tomb, the interior may take the shape of four cross-shaped iwans, with the exterior not corresponding. The domed central space is flanked by four rectangular spaces surmounted by mirror vaults. There is also antoher grave within the structure, but the owner of the grave is unknown.

The Zal Mahmut Paşa Tomb is today a well preserve structure, taking place on the courtyard of the lower madrasa; however it is closed to visitors; inside is also visible from outside. Actually, the tomb was undergone some restoration progress during 1960's; especially adornments have been restored during this progress.

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PİYALE PAŞA (TERSANE) MOSQUE COMPLEX

Kasımpaşa, Beyoğlu - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'41.0"N 28°57'57.0"E / 41.044722, 28.965833



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The Piyale Pasha Mosque also known as the Tersane Camii (literally: Arsenal Mosque), is an Ottoman mosque located in the Kasımpaşa neighborhood of Beyoğlu district in Istanbul, Turkey. The complex was constructed on the site of a former dockyard.

Vizier and Grand Admiral Mehmet Piyale Pasa (1553-1577), who was married to Gevherhan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Selim II  (1524-1574), was originally Croatian and his father was a shoemaker. A six domed, Piyale Pasha (Shipyard) Mosque was built for Admiral Piyale Pasha in 1573 by Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan. The mosque was built between 1565 and 1573. In 1890, some buildings of the mosque and the foundation were renewed.

Piyale Paşa Mosque was built by Architect Sinan in the Kasımpaşa district of Beyoglu county in 1573. The complex is composed of a mosque, a Sıbyan Mektebi (Ottoman elementary - primary school), a bath, a fountain, a tekke (dervish lodge), a tomb, and an arasta (Ottoman bazaar). Today, only the mosque and the tomb have survived to the present day.

The six domes, each approximately nine meters in diameter, are carried by two tapered granite piers in the center of the prayer hall. They rest on the qibla and along the sides of the entrance walls. Pendentives enable the transition from the round dome to the rectilinear walls. The use of these piers in the central space could have resulted in a loss of spatial integrity, but the slenderness of the piers balances their placement. This same slenderness appears in the slim walls, which are buttressed along the qibla. The tapering buttresses along the qibla wall support the lateral thrust of the domes.

Unlike other mosques designed by Sinan that have a large central dome, the Piyale Pasha Mosque is constructed with six identical domes, arranged as two rows of three, each with a diameter of about 9 m (30 ft). The domes are supported in the center of the prayer hall by a pair of slender granite pillars. The minaret is placed in the centre of the anti-qibla wall. It was rebuilt in the middle of the 19th century.

However, the wall thickness increases dramatically opposite the mihrab, in the middle of the entrance wall where the minaret stands. The minaret is placed in the centre of the anti-qibla wall. The window gaps of the mosque are designed as a tri-serial which have a great impact on the skylight of the mosque. The stained-glass in the windows of the qibla wall is not original.

The mosque was built on an area measuring 55 x 45 m. Several the walls of the complex are constructed from cut stones, whereas other parts are built from rubble stones. The ceiling of the harim (sanctum sanctorum) of the mosque, spanning an area of 30.50 x 19.70 m, is covered by 6 domes, each of a diameter of 9 meters. Both the dome composing the ceiling structure and the arched roof are made of brick. The weight of the dome, supported by pendentives, is distributed between two granite columns and piers.

This same slenderness appears in the slim walls, which are buttressed along the qibla. The tapering buttresses along the qibla wall support the lateral thrust of the domes. However, the wall thickness increases dramatically opposite the mihrab, in the middle of the entrance wall where the minaret stands.

This platform is supported by pointed arches that rest on six slender columns. The sequential layout of the muezzin's platform and the minaret strengthens the emphasis on the qibla axis. However, the exterior expression is in turn weakened by the unusual location of the minaret and unresolved issues of proportion. The northeastern and northwestern corners of the entrance wall are articulated with rectangular stair shafts which lead to the side platforms as well as the upper porticos.

Another exceptional aspect of the Piyale Pasa Mosque is the double-story porticos, which consist of cross vaults carried by rectangular columns at the base with galleries above. Ninety marble columns carried the gallery roof; today, most of these columns, along with the roof, have disappeared. The mosque's fenestration pattern of four rows of different aperture sizes is also unlike that present in Sinan's other works.

The use of granite columns instead of elephant feet pillars, which bears the central dome similar to earlier mosques, is a different example in itself. The columns in the courtyard must belong to a madrasah and a lodge are no longer. On the tile ribbon, inside the mosque, Sura of Fatiha is written.

The unusual design approach found in this mosques prompts two different conclusions: it may one of Sinan's more experimental designs, or it could have been designed by another architect, possibly working under Sinan's supervision. As the mosque is not mentioned in memoir's of Sinan's work, evidence points to the latter.

Unlike Sinan's other mosques, where the spatial and structural composition develop around a single central dome, the Piyale Pasa Mosque is a six-domed structure in which the identical domes are arranged in two rows of three. The prayer hall measures about thirty and a half meters by twenty meters, with additional bays on both ends of the domed bays.

The unusual design approach found in this mosques prompts two different conclusions: it may one of Sinan's more experimental designs, or it could have been designed by another architect, possibly working under Sinan's supervision. As the mosque is not mentioned in memoir's of Sinan's work, evidence points to the latter.

The two entrances of the mosque are placed on either side of the minaret, and both entrances have two windows on their sides. This symmetrical approach works well on both the exterior and the interior, given the three-bay structure of the mosque, which embodies a strong middle axis and two identical wings. The muezzin's platform, located just behind the minaret wall, has a better placement than is usually found in single-domed structures.

This platform is supported by pointed arches that rest on six slender columns. The sequential layout of the muezzin's platform and the minaret strengthens the emphasis on the qibla axis. However, the exterior expression is in turn weakened by the unusual location of the minaret and unresolved issues of proportion.

The northeastern and northwestern corners of the entrance wall are articulated with rectangular stair shafts which lead to the side platforms as well as the upper porticos. Another exceptional aspect of the Piyale Pasa Mosque is the double-story porticos, which consist of cross vaults carried by rectangular columns at the base with galleries above. Ninety marble columns carried the gallery roof; today, most of these columns, along with the roof, have disappeared.

The niche of the mosque overlaid Iznik tiles with a plant motif and a ceramic ring with a Qur’anic verse on an arc-shape frame which supports the dome adorning the architectural aesthetics of the mosque. The script of the ceramic ring was written by calligrapher Çerkez Hasan Çelebi. Despite the decoration of the mihrab (niche), the pulpit of the mosque is highly ordinary.

A number of identical Iznik tiled lunette panels that are now on display in different museums including the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London are believed to have been removed from the Piyale Pasha Mosque in the 19th century. The panels would have been placed above the lower row of windows. Two tiles from another lunette panel and a pair of tiles that probably came from the mihrab were sold at auction by Christie's in 2004.

The mosque's fenestration pattern of four rows of different aperture sizes is also unlike that present in Sinan's other works. The walls of the mosque are made of cut stone and rough stone, while the domes and vaults are brick. The minbar is marble. Remarkable blue Iznik tiles with white inscriptions, crafted by Cerkez Hasan Çelebi, encircle the prayer hall between the second and third rows of windows. The inscription under the copper-covered crown of the minaret dates the restoration of the minaret to the end of the eighteen century.

An inscription of the Fatiha verse of the Koran is to be found on the band of tiles that circles the interior. Around three walls of the interior are a row of Iznik tiles with inscriptions in a white thuluth script on a cobalt-blue background. The interior walls are now whitewashed but they were originally decorated.

The minaret of the mosque is made of cut limestone and only has a single sherefe (minaret balcony) which peculiarly rises from the level of the niche. Alluding to the marine identity of the Grand Admiral Piyale Pasha, the minaret reminds one of a mast, rising above the deck of a ship. Despite some stolen pieces, the mihrap inside has retained its magnificence.

It was rebuilt in the middle of the 19th century. After a recent restoration project which was completed in 2007, the mosque has been opened to public again.

Tomb
Piyale Pasha died on 21 January 1578 and is buried at the Piyale Pasha Mosque in Istanbul which he had built in his final years. In the plain tomb, which is constructed on an octagonal plan in which the builder of the complex, Piyale Paşa, is burried, there are a total of 13 different graves, including three sarcophaguses and ten marble graves in the tomb. The domed octagonal mausoleum to the northwest of the mosque contains the tomb of Piyale Pasha together with those of his sons and daughters.

In the octagonal tomb built with küfeki stone, lie the marble sarcophagi of Piyale Pasha and his family. The domed octagonal mausoleum to the northwest of the mosque contains the tomb of Piyale Pasha together with those of his sons and daughters. Altogether there are thirteen sarcophagi. His wife, Gevherhan Sultan (daughter of Sultan Selim II), remarried and is entombed in Sultan Selim II's mausoleum next to Hagia Sophia.

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KILIÇ ALİ PAŞA MOSQUE

Tophane Square - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'36.0"N 28°58'51.0"E / 41.026667, 28.980833



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Situated in the Tophane Square, it is a small complex consisting of a mosque, a religious school, a tomb, a public fountain and a hamam. It was built by Architect Sinan on the orders of Admiral Kılıç Ali Paşa. It is one of the last projects of Architect Sinan's later works. Sinan being the most famous of all Ottoman architects. Kılıç Ali Paşa was the grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy between 1571 and 1587.

The Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex is a group of buildings designed and built between 1580 and 1587 by Mimar Sinan, who at the time was in his 90s. The mosque itself was constructed in 1578-1580. It is located in the Tophane neighbourhood of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is named after Kılıç Ali Pasha.

His religious complex in Istanbul is located across the Ottoman canon foundry (Tophane) near Karaköy, and was built by Ottoman court architect Sinan towards the end of his career in 1581. Chosen for its proximity to the Tophane Pier, the site is now located further inland due to infills along the Bosphorus shoreline. The Kılıç Ali Paşa complex, which Kılıç Ali Paşa (the grand admiral of the Ottoman Navy) had built by the architect Sinan in the Tophane Square in 1581, consists of a mosque, a tomb, a sabil, a madrasah (Muslim theological school), and a Turkish bath.

According to the folklore Kılıç Ali Paşa asked Sultan Murat III to give him land to build a mosque. The Sultan replied because Kılıç Ali Paşa was such a great admiral he should build a mosque in the sea. That explains why the sea shore was filled up and the complex was built in that position. The mosque is surrounded by a large courtyard and the assembly area is covered by a sloping roof, with ornate carvings on the three doors of the inner garden. There are Quranic verses painted on the ceramic panels over the windows. In the garden is a fountain with eight marble columns and a covering dome.

In 1948, the 16th century ship's lantern which hung from the main dome was moved to the Maritime Museum. On the right hand side a minaret rises with the balcony. The tomb of Kılıç Ali Paşa is located in the garden facing east. By the garden wall facing the street is a fountain. The hamam on the right hand side of the mosque is still in use today. The school is located on the sea side of the hamam.

The courtyard is open during the day. The larger complex includes a mosque, a madrasa, public baths and a cemetery including the founder's tomb, all aligned with qibla to the east of south. The mosque and cemetery are surrounded by a rectangular precinct wall with iron-grill windows, which was pulled back to its current location during road enlargements in 1956, constricting the mosque's forecourt. Among the five precinct gates, the two along the main boulevard and the side gates to the northeast and southwest lead into the forecourt which is dominated by the double portico of the mosque.

The mosque and cemetery are surrounded by a rectangular precinct wall with iron-grill windows, which was pulled back to its current location during road enlargements in 1956, constricting the mosque's forecourt. Among the five precinct gates, the two along the main boulevard and the side gates to the northeast and southwest lead into the forecourt which is dominated by the double portico of the mosque.

Mosque
The plan scheme of the mosque, built by Sinan the Architect in 1580. The central dome of the mosque is 12.70 metres (41.7 ft) in diameter, carried on pendentives on granite piers and two half-domes on the Qibla axis. Towards the entrance, on two sides, there is a two-story gallery. The dome is placed at the center with two exedrae similar to a Byzantine basilica, thus the resemblance to Hagia Sophia.

The mosque is based on a rectangular design and is an enlarged plan of the Haghia Sophia mosque. The top of the windows is adorned by the tiles and the largest dome is resting on four elephant leg shaped marble columns and is supported in the east and the west by two half domes. In each of the four corners a small dome is located and colored tiles with flower motifs decorate the mosque's interior. The largest dome has twenty four windows and including these the building has a total of 147 windows.

Kılıç Ali Pasha, who was a conscript recruit of Italian origin, had this complex built outside the Galata city walls, based on the Ayasofya design concept. It is another one of Sinan’s architectural works that has reached our day in quite a good condition. Its similarity to the Hagia Sophia has been sometimes considered to be a negative factor by some critiques and attributed to the Pasha’s past, or his attempt at creating such a splendor just near the non-muslim Galata neighborhood.

This large scale mosque displays a celebration of architecture with its references to the Hagia Sophia, unique plan, rich and highly refined marble workmanship in the burial area. The central dome of main space of the mosque is 12.70 m in diameter, which has a rectanglular plan, is placed on a pulley with windows. The weight of the dome is distributed on four piers with supporting pendentives. It is thought that the mosque was an improved sample of the architectural aesthetics of the Hagia Sophia and is decorated with Iznik tiles from 16th century workmanship.

The mosque is completely lit by a total of 147 windows, 24 of which are exist on the pulley of its dome. A historical beacon belonging to the 16th century, which can be found at the Naval Museum of Istanbul today, was also used for lightening. In addition, during the renovation period in the 19th century, the minaret of the mosque with its single balcony was renewed and the Baroque ornaments were added to it.

The northwest wall, across from the portico, is lined by an arcade with ablution spigots. Additional washing areas are located around the dodecagonal ablution fountain (şadırvan) that occupies the center of the narrow forecourt, protected by a domed kiosk carried on eight pillars. The forecourt is largely shaded with the long eaves of the mosque portico, ablution arcade and the ablution fountain. The outdoor prayer space of the mosque consists of a raised five-bay portico enveloped by an arcade with shorter columns on three sides, forming a double portico.

The inner portico features muqarnas capitals and is covered with domes, while the outer portico has a shed roof and diamond-cut capitals. Iron screens placed between the outer columns separate the double portico from the forecourt, limiting entry to a carved marble doorway inside the central bay. The tall mosque portal is centered on the portico façade and crowned by an inscriptive plaque and a large triangular panel with a mirrored inscription highlighted in gold. Without the portico, the mosque measures thirty one and a half meters by twenty six meters on the exterior.

Above the prayer hall are five small domes carried on six marble columns. The tile panels placed high in the prayer hall are inscribed with ayats (verses) from the Quran. The mosque has only one minaret with one gallery. The mihrab is in a square projecting apse.

A 16th-century beacon that used to hang from the central dome was taken off to be displayed at the Museum of Ottoman and Turkish Naval History in 1948.

The outdoor prayer space of the mosque consists of a raised five-bay portico enveloped by an arcade with shorter columns on three sides, forming a double portico. The inner portico features muqarnas capitals and is covered with domes, while the outer portico has a shed roof and diamond-cut capitals. Iron screens placed between the outer columns separate the double portico from the forecourt, limiting entry to a carved marble doorway inside the central bay.

The tall mosque portal is centered on the portico façade and crowned by an inscriptive plaque and a large triangular panel with a mirrored inscription highlighted in gold. Without the portico, the mosque measures thirty one and a half meters by twenty six meters on the exterior.

Inside, the tall nave of the prayer hall is covered by a central dome measuring thirteen meters in diameter, braced by two semi domes of the same radius to the northwest and southeast. Like at the Hagia Sophia, the lateral thrust of the dome is asymmetrically countered with grand arches in the other two directions, requiring the placement of heavy flying buttresses on the exterior. Double-story galleries flank the nave on all sides except for qibla where the shallow mihrab apse projects into the cemetery behind the mosque, covered with a small semi-dome.

The vertical loads of the dome are transferred via pendentives onto four massive piers built into the gallery arcades. The nave is illuminated from the top with rings of windows pierced into the base of the dome and the semi-domes, and from clerestory windows inside the tympana of the dome arches. Two tiers of casements bring light and air into the galleries; both tiers are topped by arched windows featuring colored glass set in plaster. A continuous stone cornice envelops the interior at the springing of the dome arches, adding stability to the structure as well as creating a catwalk for maintenance.

On the qibla wall, the rectangular mihrab apse is covered entirely with floral Iznik tiles and inscriptive tile panels. Four plaster windows inside the apse and two others set high on the qibla wall feature intricate colored glass compositions containing floral arabesques and inscriptions. The marble mihrab is adorned simply with a muqarnas hood, while the sides of the marble minbar are carved with arabesques painted in gold. The muezzin's platform (müezzin mahfili) is located across the minbar to the right of the entrance, and is carried over eight marble columns.

Interior walls of the galleries and all vaulted surfaces are covered with white plaster and painted in sections with floral arabesques. Inscriptive medallions adorn the apex of tall dome and the pendentives of the central dome. The cut-stone construction of the gallery arcades and the qibla wall are left exposed.

The mosque, the main unit of the complex, is located in the middle of  the courtyard. During the road construction works in 1956, the frame of the courtyard lost its original shape when its wall was moved back. The last prayer section of the mosque is covered by five domes, and the porch is covered with lead encircling the last prayer section in three directions creating this section’s ceiling structure.

Minaret
The single minaret of the mosque is attached to the west corner of the prayer hall. Its steps are accessed from one of two symmetrical stairways at either end of the northwest arcade that lead up to the gallery level. All domes and roofs, including the conical crown of the minaret, are covered with lead panels on the exterior.

Tomb of Kılıç Ali Paşa
The octagonal stone tomb of the founder is located in the cemetery behind the qibla wall of the mosque. Its dome is carried on four arches that rest on a thick wall to the northeast and two free-standing columns to the southeast. Its portal is set into the northeast wall, topped by the foundation plaque.

The tomb of the complex, situated on an octagonal plan with cut-stone, located on the side overlooking the sea, belongs to Kılıç Ali Paşa. At the outer courtyard in the graveyard stands an octagonal türbe with a dome also made by Mimar Sinan. It's wooden doors are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Kılıç Ali Pasha's tomb lies inside the tomb.

The courtyard is open during the day. This is a place where high-level Ottoman naval officers have been laid to rest. It is closed to visitors but can easily be viewed from the outside. The Tomb of Kılıç Ali Pasha is also an unusual structure with a unique plan. The portico was brought inside, instead of projecting to the exterior.

 It's wooden doors are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Kılıç Ali Pasha's tomb lies inside the türbe. The octagonal tomb of Kılıç Ali Pasha in the cemetery of the mosque is almost the only example of a two columned front porch.

Madrasa
The madrasa is located to the south of the mosque. It is square in plan and measures about twenty-five meters per side. Its fountain court is surrounded by an arcade with eleven domed bays that give access to eighteen student cells. The large domed classroom iwan projects beyond the northeast wing of the madrasa and faces the cemetery like the mosque apse.

The madrasah near the bath, which measures 27.2 x 28.7 m, has a courtyard, 17 rooms, and a classroom. The medrese, opposite the southeast corner of the mosque, is almost square. This structure might not be constructed by Mimar Sinan as it is not in the official list of his works, the Tazkirat-al-Abniya. The madrasa is located to the south of the mosque.

Bath
The bath of the complex is a building covered by a dome located on the right-hand side of the mosque. The public baths (hamam) of the complex is located outside the precinct walls, to the southwest of the mosque and was completed by 1583. Measuring eighteen meters by thirty one and a half meters, the baths consist of a hot-room preceded by a dressing room of equal size to its northwest. The hexagonal hall of the hot-room is flanked by seven private cells, five of which have domes. The central spaces of the hot-room and the dressing room are covered by domes pierced with lights; the larger dome of the dressing room is fourteen meters in diameter.

It is known that the bath at the right of the mosque was under construction in 1583. Its layout is different from classical baths because the changing room was placed between two cool rooms instead of putting in front of cool room. The diameter of the dome roofing for the changing room is 14.1 m. To the right of the mosque is the hamam, of which the construction was completed in 1583.

The public baths (hamam) of the complex is located outside the precinct walls, to the southwest of the mosque. Measuring 18 meters by 31,5 meters, the baths consist of a hot-room preceded by a dressing room of equal size to its northwest. The hexagonal hall of the hot-room is flanked by 7 private cells, 5 of which have domes. The central spaces of the hot-room and the dressing room are covered by domes pierced with lights; the larger dome of the dressing room is 14 meters in diameter. The baths are no longer in function and are in need of restoration.

The glass doors lead into two separate soğukluk (cool rooms) that are placed on either sides of the hararet (caldarium-hot room) which is hexagonal in plan with open bathing places in four of its six arched recesses, the other two opening to the soğukluks. The placement of the soğukluks and the plan of the hararet differ from the usual application carried out by Sinan in his other extant hamams.

Sebil
It is thought that the sabils existing on the courtyard’s wall belong to the complex. The domed sabil of the complex projects onto the street at the northern corner of the precinct walls and is entered from a door inside the mosque courtyard.

Şadırvan
The northwest wall, across from the portico, is lined by an arcade with ablution spigots. Additional washing areas are located around the dodecagonal ablution fountain (şadırvan) that occupies the center of the narrow forecourt, protected by a domed kiosk carried on eight pillars. The forecourt is largely shaded with the long eaves of the mosque portico, ablution arcade and the ablution fountain.

Rumours
The Turkish researcher Rasih Nuri İleri claimed during his examination of the complex's foundation documents that Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes was a forced worker at the construction of the complex during his enslavement, like the Captive character in his novel Don Quixote.

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GAZİ KARA AHMET PAŞA MOSQUE

Silivrikapı, Topkapı - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'16.0"N 28°55'44.0"E / 41.021111, 28.928889



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The Kara Ahmet Pasha Mosque is an Ottoman mosque along the city walls in Istanbul, Turkey. Dated 1558, Kara Ahmed Pasha Mosque, in Topkapı Street at Arpa Emini Slope. Kara Ahmet Pasha Mosque, also known as Gazi Ahmet Paşa Camii is one of Mimar Sinan's lesser-known achievements. He built it in 1554 for Kara Ahmed Pasha, a grand vizier of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. This is a great mosque complex which is one of the loveliest and most masterful of the works of Sinan.

This mosque is part of a külliye which is situated in the Topkapı district (alongt north-west city walls) and also includes a medrese, a primary school. The complex was built at the request of Kara Ahmet Pasha, one of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman's sadrazams (Prime Minister). The medrese and the mosque share the same courtyard while the primary school and the tomb remain at a distance from the mosque.

The courtyard is surrounded by the cells of a medrese and a dershane, or main classroom. Attractive apple green and yellow Iznik tiles grace the porch, while blue and white ones are found on the east wall of the prayer hall. These tiles date from the mid 16th century. On the three galleries, the wooden ceiling under the west one is elaborately painted in red, blue, gold and black.

Kara Ahmet Pasha Mosque is 19.3 x 26.3 m dimension. Lighted by 80 windows, the mosque is unique in İstanbul with its beautiful ceramic tiles at the entrance; 16th century penmanship of the müezzin mahfel; and its timber ceiling. The windows on both sides of the entrance rise as high as the latecomers' porch.

With the Kara Ahmet Pasha Mosque (1558-1565) Sinan attempts to improve on the Üç şerefeli and Sinan Pasha mosques by adding trompes to the hexagon structure. Another interesting aspect of the plan is that its polygon based dom is supported by independent columns. These columns stand very close to the main entrance (north) and kiblah (south) walls. The two columns on each side are linked by arches to the buttresses which rise in the middle of the side galleries.

The complex was restored by Aydınbeyzade Hasan Ağa in 1696. After the 1894 earthquake, the collapsed dome and other buildings in the complex were restored within two years. The fountain, in the courtyard, lost its features as a result of being restored.

Grand Vizier Ahmed Pasha, killed in 1555, was buried in this tomb, which was built by Sinan the Architect in 1559.

The elementary School is a single storey building with dimensions 7.6 x 14.7 m with a playground. Although it has lost its features, the Elementary School is still one of the best conserved buildings in the complex. The small mosque, built by Kara Ahmed Pasha’s wife Fatma Sultan, can be seen a little forward from the mosque. The madrasah, with 16 rooms and a classroom, must have built about 1560. The fountain, in the courtyard, lost its features as a result of being restored.

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MOLLA ÇELEBİ (FINDIKLI) MOSQUE

Fındıklı, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'56.3"N 28°59'26.1"E / 41.032306, 28.990583



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Kazasker Mehmed Vusuli Efendi, the Chief Judge of Istanbul, ordered its construction by Architect Sinan on Meclisi Mebusan Street, in the Fındıklı district of Beyoğlu county. It is said that it was built between 1561 - 1562. However, the precise date of the mosque’s construction is unknown, it is held that the mosque was established between the above mentioned dates.

The mosque is located in Istanbul in the Fındıklı district of Beyoğlu county in the Meclisi Mebusan Street, on the lower shores of the European Bosphorus, at Fındıklı. The Molla Çelebi mosque, also known as Fındıklı Camii, as viewed from the waterside, near the Kabataş funicular and ferry stations, looks very elegant and impressive, particularly under the reflection of the evening sun over the Bosphorus Straits.

Over centuries, it was damaged by a number of fires, natural disasters, and the 1950’s road construction campaigns. In spite of everything, the building still displays the details of the architecture of Sinan’s period. The portico was damaged and replaced with a wooden porch structure in the 18th century.

During the 1957 restoration, following the road construction, this section was replaced with a five-dome wooden structure portico, based on its 16th century original form. The Molla Çelebi Bath House was destroyed during the same year in 1957. The minaret, which was damaged during the 1999 earthquake, has since been rebuilt.

When it was brought together with the Sıbyan mektebi (Ottoman elementary-primary school) and bath, which have not reached our time, the Molla Çelebi Mosque, said to have been designed as a small complex, is a hexagonal mosque designed by the architect Sinan.

In addition, ten windows, which were placed on the lower part of  the dome, and window gaps, placed in two vertical ranks on the wall window’s sides made of limestone (küfeki taşı) blocks, illuminate the mosque.

The minbar (pulpit) is decorated with polychrome wall paintings (kalem işi) and the decorative mihrab (niche) is in the same style of the Classical Architectural tradition which is visible throughout the structure. Furthermore, the thin minaret with its single sherefe (minaret balcony) rises from the right corner of the arcaded entrance which is covered by four domes overlooking the street.

The mosque was initially built as a small complex, with a hexagonal plan designed by the architect Mimar Sinan. Principally, the mosque was built in two sections, the central prayer hall of size of 18.90 x 16.40 m, and the mihrab yeri (chancel) of size of 8.80 x 4.60 m. The pillars are built into the walls and between the pillars there are four small semicircular domes in the east-west direction and the central dome, which is the central prayer section.

This section is also covered by semicircular dome of 11.8 m diameter and covered with six arches built between the six embedded columns; the rectangular apse in which the mihrab is built projects out. In addition there are ten windows, placed above the lower part of the dome. The window gaps, placed in two vertical. The wall window’s sides made of limestone (küfeki taşı) blocks, illuminate the mosque.

The mosque structure is built entirely in the Classical Ottoman Architectural tradition. The minbar or the pulpit in the mosque, is a unique special feature from where the imam addresses prayer meetings, which is embellished with kalem işi, polychrome wall paintings. The mihrab (niche) is also embellished in the same style as the minbar. There is a slim minaret built at the arcaded entrance, which has four domes.

The mosque facing the street, has the minaret to its the right corner. The minaret has a sherefe (minaret balcony). The extensions on the sides are covered by semi domes as it provides better continuity for both the cover system and the interior. the mihrab is for the first time is located in an apse that projects from the middle portion of the qibla wall. This interior layout design compensates for the lack of depth on the north-south axis.

Over centuries, it was damaged by a number of fires, natural disasters, and the 1950’s road construction campaigns. In spite of everything, the building still displays the details of the architecture of Sinan’s period. The portico was damaged and replaced with a wooden porch structure in the 18th century. During the 1957 restoration, following the road construction, this section was replaced with a five-dome wooden structure portico, based on its 16th century original form.

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RÜSTEM PAŞA MOSQUE

Eminönü, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'04.0"N 28°58'08.0"E / 41.017778, 28.968889



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The Rüstem Pasha Mosque is an Ottoman mosque located in Hasırcılar Çarşısı (Strawmat Weavers Market), Uzunçarşı Caddesi, Tahtakale in Eminönü, Istanbul. Located on the Eminönü Square, the mosque is easily accessible from any location. At Eminönü, keeping the Süleymaniye Mosque and Complex in view, this mosque will be to your right.

It is one of the most important structures making up Istanbul 's skyline. Situated on a high platform with a commanding view of the city, the mosque was built on the former site of Hacı Halil Mescid. The location of the mosque is one of the busiest in the city and has been since Roman times. Prime Minister Rüstem Paşa, one of the leading state officials and proponents of construction, also had a role in the building of Süleymaniye Camii. He was the husband of Süleyman, the Magnificent's daughter, Hürrem Sultan and was known for the buildings he had constructed throughout the Empire.

To the west of the mosque is a cemetery, and a square was later added behind its qibla wall. As indicated by a four-line inscription, the mosque was commissioned by the Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasa, son-in-law of Suleyman the Magnificent, and was built by Mimar Sinan in 1561. However, scholars claim that, considering the Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasa's death date, it is probable that the mosque was ordered by his widow in his memory and completed later.

It was constructed in the place of a Byzantine church converted into a mosque in the fifteenth century by Haci Halil Aga. The mosque constitutes the third in a series of edifices designed by Sinan at the request of the Grand Vizier, following the Rüstem Pasha Madrasa in 1550 and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Tekirdag in 1553.

This is one of Sinan’s best known works, due to the Iznik tiles, unparalleled in magnificence, that cover the whole interior space as well as its structural design features. The richness and variety of the tiles recreate a 16th century tile museum with a glowing effect in all colors. The transition Sinan was able to achieve between the congested and chaotic streets of Tahtakale and the contrasting light quality in this interior space, decorated with tiles, is an extraordinary architectural experience.

The mosque has been repaired several times after earthquake damage through centuries, and as a result, the roof structure is no longer original. However, the mosque’s architectural design in an urban setting, with its tiles and its masonry details, reveals the luminous 16th century ambience to the beholder.

This is the mosque with a central dome and a single minaret that arises amidst the rows of shops and storehouses near the Spice Bazaar. It creates a beautiful sight in the busiest commercial center in the city, together with the Süleymaniye Mosque on the slope behind. The architect Sinan built the mosque in 1561 for the Grand Vizier Rüstem Paşa. Spiraling staircases go up to the structure that is set above a row of shops. The interesting courtyard is actually a small terrace covered by five small domes.

The central dome rises atop four wall pillars and four columns, two on each side. Over the corners of the square space are four semidomes supporting the main dome. There are galleries behind the columns on the sides. The facade and the small, but attractive interior are decorated with the finest examples of Iznik tiles. The geometrical and leaf and flower motifs on the tiles give the interior a colorful flower garden appearance. The embossed coral-red color was used only for a short time in the 16th century.

The central main dome is supported by four half-domes. The base of the dome contains 74 windows, and its arches are supported by octagonal elephant feet. The mosque niche and pulpit are made of marble. The area designated for late-arriving worshippers has six pillars and five domes. The minaret, with its single gallery, replaces the original, which was torn down.

It was designed by Mimar Sinan "Sinan the Architect" for Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha (who married one of the daughters of Süleyman the Magnificent, Princess Mihrimah). Its building took place from 1561 to 1563. The mosque was completed by Hürrem Sultan after the death of her husband, Prime Minister Rüstem Paşa. The mosque was damaged in the Great Fire of 1660 and the earthquake of 1776 in both instances, the damage was immediately repaired.

Nineteenth-century Baroque frescoes, layered over the surfaces of the four semi-domes on the sides of the octaglon, were removed during a 1960-1961 restoration organized by the religious foundation. The Rüstem Pasa Mosque was most recently restored between 1964-1969, and now functions as a mosque and monument.

The interior of the mosque, and a part of the exterior northwestern elevation of the prayer hall, are clad with colored Iznik tile panels decorated with floral arabesques. Red and white stones form the arches supporting the central dome and the slightly pointed arch that crowns the wooden doorway of the main entrance. The roofs of the side wings are decorated with wooden colored reliefs organized into geometric patterns. Floral frescoes decorate the center of each dome, while Thuluth inscription plaques are placed above the doorways, and medallions with Arabic inscriptions are situated between the arches of the external portico and on the squinches.

The mosque is famous for its exquisite Iznik tiles, set in beautiful floral and geometric designs, which cover not only the facade of the porch but also the mihrab, minbar, walls, and columns. The plan of the mosque consists of an octagon inscribed in a rectangle. The dome rests on four semi-domes; not on the axes but in the diagonals of the building. The arches of the dome spring from four octagonal pillars - two on the north, two on the south - and from piers projecting from the east and west walls. To the north and south are galleries supported by pillars and by small marble columns between them.

A portion of these valuable tiles have been stolen. The interior of the mosque, apart from the dome, is covered with coloured İznik tiles which are the best examples from a technical and design perspective. All the classic motifs can be found on the tiles, including fruit and flower forms. Other than dazzling tiles, the coloured porphyry marble is worth seeing.

Oriented along the north-east axis, the mosque is elevated on the plateau of a vaulted substructure containing the marketplace. It consists of an octagonal basic structure inscribed into a rectangular prayer hall flanked by two wings. The mosque is covered with a central dome elevated to a cylindrical drum, while a five-dome portico adjacent to the northeastern elevation is adjoined by a second exterior portico with a pitched roof.

A cylindrical minaret emerges from the western corner of the prayer hall. Four staircases, enclosed in an equal number of vestibules, offer access to the elevated plateau of the mosque. Two of them adjoin the northwestern part of the substructure's northeastern and the southwestern sides and the rest are incorporated within the southeastern corners of the marketplace. The main entrance to the mosque is located in the center of the northeastern elevation of the mosque.

The marketplace consists of a cross-vaulted warehouse occupying the ground floor of the main edifice of the mosque. Two slender barrel-vaulted stores correspond to the upper floor's double porticos, and a series of vaulted shops align to the northwest of the two stores, with a fountain in the center. The Rüstem Pasa Mosque rises on the terrace of the substructure, thus constituting the second storey of the complex.

A pitched-roof wooden portico with slightly pointed arches partially occupies the northeastern and the southwestern elevations of the mosque and adjoins the northwestern side of the five-dome portico with arches supported by columns with muqarnas capitals. Accessed by a main entrance placed on the middle of the northwestern façade of the portico, the prayer hall is covered by a central dome flanked by double-height wings, which are cloister-vaulted on the northeast and barrel-vaulted on the southwest.

The dimensions of the prayer hall are approximately 26.8 by 19.6 meters, with the qibla wall along the longer side. The central dome, with a diameter of 15.2 meters and a height of approximately 22.8 meters, is raised on a cylindrical drum on an octagonal base. This base is supported by eight octagonal pillars placed on the corners of the octagon; four of them partially buried inside the walls, and four of them are free-standing, tied by semi-circular arches.

Squinches intervene between the cylindrical drum and the octagonal base, transferring the load to the pillars through muqarnas pendetives. Four semi-domes are placed on the diagonals of the prayer hall. The mihrab is covered with a muqarnas semi-dome. The base of the minaret is embedded in the western corner of the prayer hall. The interior is lit by twenty-four apertures on the drum of the central dome, along with two series of rectangular openings on the walls of the first and second floor and the grille-covered openings located within the tympanums of the main arches.

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RAMAZAN EFENDİ MOSQUE

Kocamustafapaşa, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'17.0"N 28°55'53.0"E / 41.004722, 28.931389



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Continuing along the avenue, we take the second right onto Ramazan Efendi Caddesi, where a short way along on the right we come to a small but charming mosque with a pretty garden courtyard in front. The official name of the mosque is Hoca Hüsrev Camii, for the court official who originally founded it. It is also publicly referred to by the following names: Bezirganbaşı Mosque, Ramazan Efendi Mosque, or Koca Hüsrev Mosque.

It is more usually called Ramazan Efendi Camii, after the first şeyh of the dervish tekke which was part of the original foundation. The building is by Sinan at the age of 96, and a long inscription over the inner door by his friend the poet Mustafa Sa’i, gives the date as A.H. 994 (A.D. 1586); thus, this is undoubtedly the last mosque built by the great architect, completed in his 97th year.

It is a building of the simplest type: a small rectangular room with a wooden roof and porch. It is thought that it was originally covered with a wooden dome and that it had a porch with three domed bays supported by four marble columns; the present wooden porch and flat wooden ceiling are botched restorations after an earthquake.

The minaret is an elegant structure both in proportion and in detail, while the small şadırvan in the courtyard is exquisitely carved. But the great fame of the mosque comes from the magnificent panels of faience with which it is adorned. These are from the Iznik kilns at the height of their artistic production and are thus some of the finest tiles in existence: the borders of “tomato-red” are especially celebrated.

The appearance of its plain exterioris in contrast to the superb İznik tile decoration of the interior. However, don’t let the beauty of these tiles make you forget to get a closer look at the fine carvings on the marble minber, which is one of the most superb example sof the period.

The mosque is a typical example of the 16th century classical style Ottoman Architecture and is well known with its Iznik tiles at the interior. The single dome of the mosque is recessed in a flat wooden ceiling. Especially its minaret display all the characteristic features of the classical period.

The most fascinating feature of this modestly sized mosque is its 16th century tiles covering almost the entire interior. Only the small minaret, with its beautiful proportions, reflects the original composition of the exterior façade which has been restored several times.

Maintenance of the mosque was in different time periods. Dede Efendi gave financial support to its maintenance. An addition to the entrance door was constructed of recent date. The building was restored in the 19th century with the support of Hamamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, a well-known composer. Only the small minaret, with its beautiful proportions, reflects the original composition of the exterior façade which has been restored several times.

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FERRUH KETHÜDA (BALAT) MOSQUE

Balat, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'04.1"N 28°56'44.6"E / 41.034472, 28.945722



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To the right of Balat Gate (Balat Kapısı) and on the same street as the church we come to a small mosque which is a minor work of the great Sinan. It is also called as Balat Mosque. This mosque is the only building that has remained to this day from a group of structures, mosque, a lodge, a courthouse, and a fountain, within the small complex built for Ferruh Ağa by Architect Sinan.

A long and handsomely written inscription in Arabic over the fine entrance portal of red conglomerate marble informs those who can read it that the mosque was built in A.H. 970 / A.D. 1562 - 1563 by Ferruh Ağa, Kethüda (Steward) of the Semiz Ali Paşa, the Grand Vizier of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman. The mosque was also used as a room for devotional prayer chanting (tevhidhane) by the dervish lodge (tekke). The Court of Balat was erected in the courtyard of the mosque.

The ceramics of the mihrab were that was produced in Tekfur Palace at the beginning of the 18th century. This rectangular mosque with a projecting mihrab stands inside a courtyard with eight corners. The walls were decorated with the tiles brought from Tekfur Palace and a pool was located in the garden.

The mosque, which measures 18.2 x 26 m, lost its features completely after the recent restoration. Made from dimension stone, the mosque has a rectangular plan. A deep porch precedes the mosque; it must have been rather impressive, supported, as it would appear, on eight columns, the plinths for which remain; but it has been very summarily restored and glazed in.

The building is of the simple rectangular type; it most probably once had a wooden ceiling with a little dome, but this has been replaced in a recent restoration by a flat concrete ceiling. The building is very long and shallow, with a long and shallow apse for the mihrab, which is adorned with tiles of the Tekfur Saray period. A wooden balcony runs along the west wall, but this is clearly not like the original, for it obstructs the windows in an awkward way.

All the same, it is attractive with its grand marble portal, two handsome niches with pretty conch tops, and at each end a curious sort of “anta” or projection of the mosque wall with windows above and below. This is the handsomest and most interesting of Sinan’s many mosques of this simple type and it deserves a more sympathetic restoration.

The upper part of the cylindrical stone minaret was rebuilt after the earthquake in 1766. The marble mihrab was replaced by a wooden one and the painted decorations are vanished as well.

There is an ancient hamam just to the east of the mosque. This has been attributed to Sinan, but wrongly; it is not in the Tezkere and it appears much earlier in a vakfiye (deed of a pious foundation) of Fatih himself. It is not very impressive and is hardly worth a visit.

An ablution fountain along with a public fountain stands in the courtyard. Furthermore, a sun watch was located on the back walls of the narthex which housed the Balat court house in the Ottoman era.

It has was damaged during the 1766 earthquake and the 1877 Balat fire and went through large scale restoration efforts. The narthex and almost all of the minaret were restored to a great extent. But it was restored very carelessly after the 1766 earthquake and the 1877 fire. The restoration of the mosque, which was abandoned after the tekke was closed in 1925, was finished in 1960 although it had been started in 1953.

There is a concrete hipped roof with terracotta tiles replacing the wooden roof which was collapsed in 1938. In 1955, all the woodwork is renewed by the waqfs. The was covered with Tekfur Palace tiles during the 18th century, to be preserved in a good condition. recently during the 2000s, all of the interior walls and the narthex were covered with tiles. This intervention has resulted in some loss of harmony in interior spaces.

By the beginning of the 21st century, the walls of the interior and the latecomers’ porch are covered with glazed tiles which caused the mosque to lost its accordance. The whole social complex consists of a lodge, court house and a fountain.

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