ÜÇ BAŞ MOSQUE

Atikali, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'30.1"N 28°56'35.1"E / 41.025028, 28.943083



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Üç Baş Camii, the tiny mosque we see to the right of the square. Evliya Çelebi tells us that the mosque received this odd name "because it was built by a barber who shaved three heads for one small piece of money, and, notwithstanding, grew so rich that he was enabled to build this mosque; it is small but particularly sanctified".

A more prosaic explanation is given in the Hadika, a comprehensive description of the mosques of Istanbul written in 1780; there we learn that the founder, Nureddin Hamza ben Atallah, came from a village in Anatolia called Üç Baş.

Madrasa of Üç Baş located in the threshold of the mosque, which was built with bricks and Stones, is dilapidated and idle. In addition to these, there is a little cemetery in the threshold.

An inscription over the gate gives the date of foundation as A.H. 940 (A.D. 1532-3). The mosque is of no interest except for its name. Opposite the mosque there is a ruined medrese, founded in 1575 by a certain Halil Efendi. In the centre of the square is an old fountain, the beautifully written inscription on which indicates that it was founded by one Mustafa Ağa in 1681.

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MİHRİŞAH VALİDE SULTAN COMPLEX

Eyüp - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'54.5"N 28°56'03.5"E / 41.048472, 28.934306



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This baroque complex, which was built for Mihrişah Sultan, wife of Sultan Mustafa III and mother of Sultan Selim III, near to Bostan Pier of Eyüp in between 1792 - 1795, is quite broad. The complex was built by Arif Ağa the chief architect in between 1792 - 1794.

The inscription on the baroque - rococo style fountain, which dates to 1795 and is in the southeast direction of the complex, belongs to Galip who was the sheikh of the Galata Mevlevihane. The tomb, which was built in 1792 for Mihrişah Sultan who died in 1805, is a quite beautiful example of the Ottoman baroque style. The names of the Prophet Muhammad and four caliphs were inscribed on the roundels between the window arches.

Leaving Eyüp Mosque by the north gate, one finds oneself in a narrow street that leads down to the Golden Horn. Most of the left side of this street is occupied by the enormous külliye built in 1794 by Mihrişah Valide Sultan. This is one of the largest and most elaborate of all the baroque complexes and includes the türbe of the foundress together with a mektep, an imaret, and a splendid sebil and çeşmes.

The türbe is round, but the façade undulates turning it into a polygon, the various faces being separated by slender columns of red or dark grey marble; in general it recalls the türbe of Nakşidil at Fatih, though it is not quite so flamboyant.

The entrance is in a little courtyard filled with tombstones and trees, along one side of which runs the columned portico of the mektep or primary school.

Farther along the street another monumental gateway leads into the vast courtyard with more and tombstones and surrounded on three sides by the porticoes of the huge imaret or public kitchen. This is one of the very few imarets in Istanbul which still fulfil their function as food kitchens for the poor of the district; some 500 people are served daily at 11 o’clock with food to take away.

In leaving you should notice the magnificent sebil at the end of the garden wall on the street side. Continuing towards the water, one passes on the right the türbe and on the left the library of Hüsrev Paşa, dated 1839 and both in heavy Empire style; but the domes of the library reading-rooms contain a good example of that horrendous Italianate comic opera painted decoration of garlands, draperies and columns, which is so distressing when it occurs in classical buildings but is quite appropriate here.

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İMRAHOR MOSQUE

Doğancılar, Üsküdar - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'17.2"N 29°00'36.9"E / 41.021444, 29.010250



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This mosque was built in 1597 by Mehmed Ağa, Vizier Sinan Paşa's mirahur (stableman). Over time, the word mirahur became distorted to imrahor, and thus became the name of the district.

The most charming element of the structure which preserves traces of Ottoman architecture from the Classical period is the red and white panelled arch.  This arch is decorated with palmated rosettes that are tiered with a slight arch molding. By incorporating these techniques, the aesthetic image of the structure was reinforced.

This outstanding Ottoman fountain and its facade decorated with plant motifs was actively used until 1940. In the following years, the water of the fountain was provided from the city’s water network.

Next to the mosque there is a water depot that was built in 1813. On the right is the fountain of Başkadın, built during the Tulip Era by Ematullah Kadın of Sultan Ahmet III. The fountain of Ayşe Sultan, built in 1599 by the daughter of Sultan Murad III, can also be found here.

To the south of the mosque there is one of the few "charity stones" that have survived until today. The stone, which used to be taller than the height of an average man, was broken due to frequent changes in location. Poor people used to take the money that was put on the high niche, taking only as much as they needed.

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HACI BEŞİR AĞA MOSQUE

Gülhane, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'38.6"N 28°58'38.1"E / 41.010722, 28.977250



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A small mosque with an elegant sebil at the street corner. This mosque and its külliye were built in 1745 by Beşir Ağa, Chief of the Black Eunuchs in the reign of Sultan Mahmut I. Hacı Beşir Ağa Complex is located in the Fatih (old Eminönü) District of İstanbul. Hacı Beşir Ağa who was the Chief Eunuch of the Sultan’s Harem (called the Darüssaade Ağası) in the middle of the eighteen centrury (1744-1745).

The complex is consist of a mosque, a library, a madrasa, a tekke (dervish lodge), a sebil (kiosk for the distribution of drinking water or sherbet to passers-by in cups), two fountains, seven shops and a place is attached to the east side of the mosque which could be used as a primary school or a special place for Sultan.

Except from the madrasa and tekke the complex was restorated by The General Directorate for Foundations between the November of 2008 and January of 2010. During the restoration lots of expert (such as architect, restorer, chemist, art historian) worked together as a team and all works have been documented.

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KÖPRÜLÜ MEHMET PAŞA MOSQUE COMPLEX

Divanyolu, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'02.0"N 28°42'11.0"E / 41.033889, 28.703056



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Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmet Pasha and his son Köprülü Ahmet Pasha, from the famous Köprülü family, commissioned Chief Architect Kasım Ağa to build the Köprülü Complex between 1659 - 1667 opposite the Tomb of Sultan Mahmut II.

The mosque is a few steps beyond the türbe, projecting out into the sidewalk of Divan Yolu. The mosque, which is octagonal in shape, was once the dershane, or lecture-room, of the Köprülü medresesi, most of which has now disappeared.

The complex of mosques, madrasas, mausoleums, fountains, springs and the library, the inn and the shops has occurred, a large space. As by now, you have seen a variety of complexes on your Istanbul tours that were built by viziers, pashas or the royal family members.

The complexes that government officials donate are smaller in size then the complexes that royal family members donate. This is a way of showing respect to royal family. Köprülü Complex consists of a masjid (a small place for prayers), a madrasah (teological school), a tomb, a sebil, a fountain and some stores.

Madrasah
The madrasah was renovated in 1873.

Fountain
The fountain of the complex was completed in 1661.

Tomb
Köprülü Mehmet Pasha, died in 1661, his son Fazıl Ahmet Pasha and Ayşe Hanım were buried in the tomb.

Vezir Han
On the side - street of Janissaries Street, the Vizier Han was built by Grand Vizier Fazıl Ahmet Pasha between 1659 and 1660, as a part the Köprülü Complex. The Han, which was built of stone and brick, has two courtyards and two floors. The epigraph on the doorway was inscribed at the restoration in the years 1894 - 1895. There is a masjid in the second yard that was not used.

The first courtyard is triangular and the second is a trapezoid measuring 70 x 47 x 65 x 45 m. The Han remained as a slave bazaar until slavery was abolished in the Ottoman Empire in 1855. Mustafa Ziya Bey began to publish the first sports gazette of the Ottoman Empire which commercial on the 11th of October 1910 in Vezir Han.

Köprülü Library
Located on Divanyolu Street across from the Tomb of Sultan Mahmut II in the Eminönü of Istanbul, the Köprülü Library was built by Fazıl Ahmet Pasha (1635 - 1676), the son of Sadrazam (Grand Vizier) Köprülü Mehmet Pasha, on the last wish of his father. Köprülüzade Fazıl Mustafa Pasha completed the establishment of the library with the composition of a vakıf [non-for-profit organization] charter in 1678.

The library was opened with its staff being composed of three librarians, one binder, and one janitor. The first book was donated by the Köprülü family, and the number of available books continued to increase with further donations and purchases. Of all the donations to the library, those by Köprülü Mehmet Pasha, Fazıl Ahmet Pasha, Hacı (Hafiz) Ahmet Pasha, and Mehmet Asım Bey were among the highest.

Its collection contains more than 1,000 booksand approximately 3,000 manuscripts in Turkish, Arabic and English as well as approximately 1,500 printed works. The author, book, and subject lists of manuscripts and printed works are organized according to the Dewey Decimal Classification Method. The Köprülü Library is one of the first examples of an independent library design in Istanbul

It is located in a garden, whose three sides are surrounded by streets and is constructed with alternating stones and bricks. It is covered by a dome placed on an octagonal rim on the outside with a pendentive square plan. The arcade part, which is reached by a four-step staircase in the western section of the library, was moved to the front and has assumed a T-shape.

There is a diamond-shaped head placed on top of six marble pillars, spire arch arcade is covered with four domes. The library is accessed through a low-pitched door in the central axis of the arcade. The interior is illuminated by windows, with one on each side, two in the upper level, and three each with six upper part windows across the entrance. There are spire discharge arches with rectangular jambs. The interior surface of the dome and pendentives are decorated with over-the-gate pen works.

Both "C" and "S" curves are attract visitors’ attention among these brown, black and red ornamentations. Written underneath the flower designs are the word, “Maşallah,” and date, 1181 Hijri (1667-1668). Furthermore, both “Masallah” and the date of 1289 Hijri (1872) and 1327 Hijri (1911) are written on the inner door. Based on these inscriptions, it is understood that the library underwent  restoration in both 1872 and 1911.

During the restoration in 1911, the electric lines were floored, cushions and book lecterns were removed, and in addition, tables and chairs were replaced. Only 9 out of the 12 rooms of the madrasah are preserved and its architect was probably Chief Architect Mustafa Ağa.

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HEKİMOĞLU ALİ PAŞA MOSQUE

Davutpaşa, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'23.3"N 28°56'05.9"E / 41.006472, 28.934972



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Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa was the son (oğlu) of a court physician (hekim) and himself was Grand Vezir for 15 years under Sultan Mahmut I. The mosque dates from 1734-35, the architect was Ömer Ağa. It has characteristics of the classical style and of the new baroque style.

This classically planned three gated mosque was consructed of kufeki stones and adorned with tiles from Tekfur Palace. Inside lighted by hundred windows, the main dome of the mosque is borne by six elephant feet. In the tile panel around the mihrab, Ayet-el Kursi (a verse) is written. The mosque was partly rebuilt, and the minaret completely in 1960.

Along with the mosque, a tomb, lodge, fountain, library, public fountain were built as a part of the social complex. Made from sandstone, the mosque has 3 three courtyard doors and 3 three main doors. The entrance door is stone-vaulted and there are stairs rising up to the main doors.The courtyard is covered with stones and there are pine and plane trees in the garden of the mosque.

The fountain has a wooden roof supported by six marble columns. Next to the fountain, there is a lodge where the tombs of Hekimoglu Ali Pasha and his family were situated. Moreover, the beautiful tiles which were used for interior decoration consists of a large part of the tiles used in the old Byzantine architecture, the Tekfur Palace. The other tiles were brought from Kutahya which is famous for its kiln products and well-known as a tile center of Turkey. The minbar in the narthex gained recognition as a unique piece of art.

At the corner of the precinct wall beside the north entrance is a very beautiful sebil of marble with five bronze grilles; above runs an elaborate frieze with a long inscription and fine carvings of vines, flowers and rosettes in the new rococo style that had recently been introduced from France. The façade of the türbe along the street is faced in marble, corbelled out towards the top and with a çeşme at the far end. It is a large rectangular building with two domes dividing it into two equal square areas.

Farther along the precinct wall stands the monumental gateway with a domed chamber above; this was the library of the foundation. Though the manuscripts have been transferred elsewhere, it still contains the painted wooden cages with grilles in which they were stored; an elegant floral frieze runs round the top of the walls and floral medallions adorn the dome.

From the columned porch at the top of the steps leading to the library, one commands a good view of the whole complex, with its singularly attractive garden full of tall cypresses and aged plane trees, and opposite the stately porch and very slender minaret of the mosque.

The mosque itself, raised on a substructure containing a cistern, is purely classical in form. Indeed its plan is almost an exact replica of that at Cerrah Paşa, which we saw earlier on this tour. In contrast to that, the present building is perhaps a little weak and effeminate; there is a certain blurring of forms and enervating of structural distinctions, an effect not mitigated by the pale colour of the tilerevetment.

The tiles are still Turkish, not manufactured at Iznik as formerly, but at the recently established kilns at Tekfur Saray. All the same, the general impression of the interior is charming if not exactly powerful. There is a further hint of the new baroque style in one of its less pleasing traits in some of the capitals of the columns both in the porch and beneath the sultan’s loge.

The traditional stalactite and lozenge capitals have been abandoned there in favour of a very weak and characterless form, such as an impost capital which seems quite out of scale and out of place. The whole complex within the precinct wall has been very completely and very well restored. Outside the precinct, across the street to the north-east, stands the tekke of the foundation, but little is left of it save a very ruinous zaviye, or rooms for the dervish ceremonies.

According to the Turkish inscription upon its gate, the madrasah was built by the Architect Ömer Ağa between in years 1734 and 1735. The books of the library, consructed on the top of main gate, were carried to the Süleymaniye Library.

Next to the fountain, there is a lodge where the tombs of Hekimoglu Ali Pasha and his family were situated. The Pasha, who became grand vizier thrice, was killed by being poisoned in Kütahya in 1758. The square planned tomb of Ali Pasha was built by Architect Mustafa Ağa and Simon Kalfa.

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CERRAH PAŞA MOSQUE COMPLEX

Cerrahpaşa, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'28.1"N 28°56'42.5"E / 41.007806, 28.945139



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Located in Cerrahpaşa street, the Cerrah Pasha Complex was built by the Architect Davut Ağa for Cerrah Mehmet Pasha between 1593 and 1594. The Complex was damaged by the fire of 1660 and the minaret by the lightning in 1820. The Complex was largely restored after the fire of 1884.

A short way along the left side of the avenue we come to an imposing  mosque in its walled garden. This is Cerrah Paşa Cami, after which the avenue and the surrounding neighbourhood are named. Cerrah Mehmet Paşa, who founded it.

Cerrah Mehmed Pasha was an Ottoman statesman. He was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1598-1599. Cerrah Mehmet, who rose rapidly after circumcising Sultan Mehmet III, became grand vizier in 1598. The Pasha was discharged at the end of the unsuccessful Hungarian campaign even though Sultan Mehmet III warned the Pasha that he would have him cut up into four pieces if he was defeated.

Cerrah Mehmet Pasha, who died in 1604 and was buried with his three sons in a octagonal tomb made of cut stone. The türbe of the founder, a simple octagonal building, is in front of the mosque beside the entrance gate. Nearby is a ruined şadırvan and outside in the corner of the precinct wall is a pretty çeşme. The complex originally included an interesting hamam which unfortunately has been destroyed.

An Arabic inscription over the door gives the date as A.H. 1002 (A.D. 1593); the architect was Davut Ağa, Sinan’s successor as Chief Architect. One might rank Cerrah Paşa Camii among the half-dozen most successful of the vezirial mosques.

Its plan presents an interesting modification of the hexagon-in-rectangle type. The four domes which flank the central dome at the corners, instead of being oriented along the diagonals of the rectangle, are parallel with the cross axis. This plan has the advantage that, for any hexagon, the width of the building can be increased without limit.

Eight antique columns stand on the narthex of the mosque, which was constructed of cut kufeki stone. Four columns were made of Marmara island granite, two from Teb granite, two from Egypt marble. The hand - carvings seen on the central dome 13 meters in diameter, are from a late period.

The exterior, too, is impressive by its proportions, in spite of the ruined state of the porch and the unfortunate restoration job that was done on the domes and semidomes. The porch originally had seven bays and its eight handsome antique columns are still standing, four of Proconnesian marble, two of Theban granite, and two of Syenitic granite.

Such a plan was never used by Sinan and is seen again only in Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa Camii, which is a little farther west on this same hill. The mihrab is in a rectangular apse which projects from the east wall. The galleries, which run around three sides of the building, are supported by pretty ogive arches with polychrome voussoirs of white stone and red conglomerate marble; in some of the spandrels there are very charming rosettes.

In short, the interior is elegant in detail and gives a sense of spaciousness and light. The exterior, too, is impressive by its proportions, in spite of the ruined state of the porch and the unfortunate restoration job that was done on the domes and semidomes. The porch originally had seven bays and its eight handsome antique columns are still standing, four of Proconnesian marble, two of Theban granite, and two of Syenitic granite.

Located on the western side of the tomb, building which has a square plan and a tiled roof, is muvakkithane (timekeeping house). Finished in 1598, the double bath of the complex was removed between 1908 and 1910.

Cerrah Mehmet Paşa, who founded it, had been a barber and therefore a surgeon (cerrah), having gotten this official title by performing the circumcision of the future Sultan Mehmet III. The latter in 1598 appointed him Grand Vezir and wrote him a letter warning him that he would be drawn and quartered if he did not do his duty. But he was only required to do his duty for six months or so, for he was dismissed - without being drawn and quartered - in consequence of the ill success of the war against Hungary.

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TAKKECİ İBRAHİM AĞA MOSQUE

Maltepe, Zeytinburnu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'48.4"N 28°54'56.2"E / 41.030111, 28.915611



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The Takkeci Ibrahim Ağa Mosque is located outside the Byzantine land walls, on the old road to Edirne (Adrinople) across from the historic Topkapı cemetery. It was built by Takkeci Ibrahim Ağa (d. 1595), a local craftsman of soft felt dervish caps (takke or arakiye) during the rule of Sultan Murad III between 1591-1592.

At the time it was built, the mosque stood in one of the first Ottoman settlements outside the city walls and was used as a tekiyya (tekke) of the Halveti order. A Quranic school (mekteb) and two sabils (sebil) were built near the mosque to serve the needs of the neighborhood and Dervis Paşa added a fountain in 1819. Between 1830-1831, a comprehensive restoration was conducted by the order of Sultan Mahmud II. The ban on tekiyyas during the Republican years transformed the functions of the mosque.

The mosque was then severed from its neighborhood with the construction of the E-5 highway to the west of the mosque in the 1950s. Its neighborhood to the south and east were wiped away by industrialization; a project is currently underway by the Zeytinburnu Municipality to create an arts and crafts village to the east of the mosque.

The mosque is diagonally positioned in a rectangular walled-in precinct that is entered from three gates, with the main gate located across from the Topkapı cemetery to the north. Immediately behind the mosque within precinct walls are a small single-story Quranic school, a well, and an open-sabil with a tall inscriptive plaque. Built of cut stone alternated with double rows of bricks, the mosque is a simple rectangular building wrapped by a tall wooden portico with a zigzag gable roof.

Entering the mosque through the portico, an inscription above the simple marble entrance gives the name of the donor and the date of construction. There is a mihrab niche on either side of the entrance and the lower windows of the entry façade have been adorned with Quranic excerpts in their tympana. The door is an example of the interlocked woodwork (kündekari) of the period. A second entrance is located next to the minaret, along the northeastern wall.

Inside, the prayer hall 11.7 meters long and 11.25 meters wide and is crowned by a small wooden dome at its center. The dome, which is 5.5 meters in diameter, is concealed with a hipped roof on the exterior that rises above the portico roof. It is decorated with a band of gilt stalactites at its rim and a calligraphic medallion at its apex painted on deerskin. This dome is a rare example of the few such concealed domes in Istanbul, seen also seventeenth century Amcazade Hüseyin Seaside Mansion and the Twin Kiosks at the Topkapı Palace harem.

The interior is lit by twenty-eight windows placed at two levels. The lower windows are casements; they have tiles in their tympana except along the qibla wall where Quranic inscriptions are painted gold on black. The arched upper windows display fine arrangements of white and colored glass and are framed with painted decorations. A wooden balcony (mahfil), raised on wooden pillars, flanks the northwest wall and extends midway along the sidewalls and is used primarily by the müezzin.

The Takkeci Ibrahim Ağa Mosque is famous for its sixteenth century Iznik tiles that adorn the walls from the floor to the upper windows. Painted in red, light blue, turquoise and navy blue on a white glazed surface, the tiles are combined into large floral panels. The mihrab niche, crowned with stalactites, is also covered with tiles and is topped with a prayer inscribed on tiles. The minbar, to its right, is carved entirely of marble.

This is the only wooden mosque in Istanbul that appears to preserve essentially its original appearance. It is rectangular in form, with a wooden roof and porch. This is the simplest and cheapest to build and is therefore the commonest of all mosque types; but in almost all surviving examples the wooden roof and porch have succumbed to fire and have been reconstructed even more cheaply, losing thereby their charm and distinction.

Doubtless because of its isolation in the country outside the walls, Takkeci Ibrahim Ağa Camii seems to have escaped the fires and has preserved its original porch and roof. It was founded in 1592 by a certain Ibrahim who was a maker of the felt hats called takke or arakiye, especially the long conical kind worn by the dervishes.

A stone wall with grilles and the remains of a fine sebil at the corner surrounds the mosque courtyard-garden. The deeply projecting wooden tiled roof of the porch is supported by a double row of wooden pillars. Since the porch extends halfway round both sides of the mosque, the pillars give the effect of a little copse of trees, the more so since the paint has long since worn off. The roof itself has three dashing gables along the façade; a very quaint and pretty arrangement.

On the right rises the fine minaret with a beautiful stalactited şerefe. Handsome but rather heavy inscriptions adorn the spaces over the door and windows. Within, a wooden balcony runs round the west wall and half of the side walls; it has a cornice which preserves the original arabesque painting, such as we have just seen at Kara Ahmet Paşa Mosque .

The ceiling is of wood painted dark green and in the centre is a wooden dome on an octagonal cornice; one sees how greatly the dome adds to the charm of the interior and what a disaster it is when these ceilings are reconstructed flat. Two rows of windows admit light; the tiny one over the mihrab preserves some ancient, brilliant stained glass. Beneath the upper row of windows the walls are entirely revetted with tiles of the greatest period of Iznik in great panels with vases of leaves and flowers.

The mosque has a single minaret attached to the northeast façade, which is accessed from the exterior or from the müezzin's balcony on the inside. Its multifaceted shaft is constructed of cut stone and carries a single stalactite balcony (şerefe). The fountain built by Derviş Paşa adjoins the northeast corner of the precinct walls facing the street. Across from it is the second sabil, currently in ruins, with the tombs of Ibrahim Paşa and his son Halil Çavus in the cemetery behind it.

It was repaired twice in the past. The first was done in 1830 and the latter was done in 1985 by Vakıflar İdaresi (Directorate of Religious Foundations).

He is buried in the sebil (kiosk built for the dispensing of free drinking water to people) next to Ibrahim Efendi Mosque. The Takkeci Ibrahim Ağa Mosque that was built during the reign of Sultan Selim III is still open for prayers.

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AYAZMA MOSQUE

Şemsipaşa, Üsküdar - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'22.0"N 29°00'31.0"E / 41.022778, 29.008611



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It is located in Üsküdar, between Salacak and Şemsipaşa on a hill before Marmara overlooking Kızkulesi. Sultan Mustafa III (1717-1774) had the Ayazma Mosque, which rises between the Salacak and Şemsipaşa districts of Üsküdar, built by the architect, Mehmed Tahir Ağa, in 1761. In addition, the mosque, which features predominately western style architectural aspects, was built in memory of his mother Mihrişah Emine Hatun and his elder brother Şehzade Süleyman.

It is understood from certain sources that the name of the mosque comes from the Ayazma Palace which had once been located on the site. The mosque was named after a water spring that was sacred among the ancient Greeks; this spring is located to the left of the street. The mosque is part of a large complex that consists of a school for children, baths, and a clock room. The mosque used to be in the square of the Ayazma Palace, but the palace is no longer standing.

If one leaves the mosque precinct by the back gate and follows the winding street outside, keeping firmly to the right, one comes before long to an imposing baroque mosque known as Ayazma Camii. It is one of the more successful of the baroque mosques, especially on the exterior. A handsome entrance portal opens onto a courtyard from which a pretty flight of semicircular steps leads up to the mosque porch.

On the left is a large cistern and beyond an elaborate two-storeyed colonnade gives access to the imperial loge. The upper structure is also diversified with little domes and turrets, and many windows give light to the interior. The interior, as generally in baroque mosques, is less successful, though the grey marble gallery along the entrance wall, supported by slender columns, is effective.

The Ayazma Mosque has been renovated several times during its lifetime. A new minaret has been built twice on the site of the demolished minaret. The muvakkitkane (time-keeping room) and the bath, which was built to generate income for the mosque, as well as many stores of the mosque have not reached the present day. According to the archival document, Ayazma Palace, in the place of Ayazma Mosque, was restored in 1740s and allocated to ambassador of Iran.

Birdhouses are built into the walls on each side of the doors. There is a sundial in the corner of the right façade. The pulpit of this mosque is a masterpiece of stonework. Dozens of ostrich eggs were hung on the circular oil lamp above in order to prevent the formation of cobwebs. There is no clear reason as to why the eggs have been removed today. In the courtyard there is a very large pool that was intended to be used in case of fire.

The mosque, which is placed in the middle of a wide field, is located on a hillside overlooking Istanbul. It is said that the architect, Mehmed Tahir Ağa, put 8,750 eggs, 625 okka of honey (an okka is the old Turkish weight measure, equalling 1,285 gr.) and quicksilver worth 1,080 kuruş (a kuruş is one hunderdth of the old Turkish pound) into the mixture he used as cement.

In addition to Western architectural elements, classical designs have added a different complexion to the structure. The main space of the building is built on a rectangular plan and is covered by a dome resting on four elephant legs. The Hünkar Köşk (Royal residence) of the building, built next to the mosque, is situated on the left hand side of the main site. A variety of colourful stones are used to decorate the sermon area, the niche, and the pulpit of the mosque.

Decorations with gold latten are used in the royal residence and are the creation of highly skilled craftsmanship. Furthermore, the pulpit, composed of colourful, engraved marble stones, as well as the niche, made of porphyry stones, are further reflections of the skilled workmanship of the building. The scripts on the portal gate belong to the calligrapher, Seyyid Abdullah, and scripts on the plaster windows belong to calligrapher, Seyyid Mustafa.

The structure is understood to have been dated to 1760 - 1761 from the inscriptions upon the door. According to the expense book, held very carefuly, 506.095 piasters 49 coins were spent for the mosque. The mosque inscription was inscribed with talik calligraphy by Sheikh ul-islam and Calligrapher Veliyüddin Efendi. The tiles on the wall of royal box are Italian.

The altar is made of white porphyry and the carved pulpit is made of colored marble. Calligraphies in the mosque belong to Seyyid Abdullah and calligrapher Seyyid Mustafa. Bird’s nests on the outer walls of the mosque and the sundial on the right wall are noteworthy. The central dome with 20 windows is supported by four elephant feet. The mosque has 86 windows in total.

There is a fountain located on one corner of the wall surrounding the courtyard of the Ayazma Mosque that was built during the same year with the mosque. The inscription written on the fountain belongs to the poet, Zihni.There are graves of several notable individuals of the Ottoman Palace in the mosque’s graveyard. The big marble fountain, in the corner of the wall surrounding the large courtyard, is understood from the inscription of Poet Zihni that it was built along with the mosque in 1761.

When Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissaries in 1826, he removed every symbol that could act as a reminder of them, including their tombstones. The only two tombs of Janissaries that have survived until today are in the graveyard of this mosque.

Leaving by the south gate and following the street to the east, one comes to a wider street, Doğancılar Caddesi, with two pretty baroque çeşmes at the intersection; turning right one finds at the end of this street a severely plain türbe built by Sinan for Hacı Mehmet Paşa, who died in 1559. It stands on an octagonal terrace bristling with tombstones and overshadowed by a dying terebinth tree.

It is one of the mosques under influence of European artistic style. It was commissioned by Sultan Mustafa his mother Mihrişah Emine Sultan. One can take the stairs to go up to the mosque from a three-gate courtyard. The minaret has single balcony. Central dome which has 20 windows is situated on four elephant legs. The floor is paved with marble. It has a total of 86 windows.

The mosque is part of a large complex that consists of a school for children, baths, and a clock room. There is a very beautiful fountain in the left corner. The mosque used to be in the square of the Ayazma Palace, but the palace is no longer standing. Birdhouses are built into the walls on each side of the doors. There is a sundial in the corner of the right façade. The pulpit of this mosque is a masterpiece of stonework.

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ERTUĞRUL TEKKE MOSQUE

Yıldız, Beşiktaş, İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'44.0"N 29°00'30.0"E / 41.045556, 29.008333



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The Ertuğrul Tekke Mosque, (Turkish: Ertuğrul Tekke Camii), is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in Yıldız neighbourhood, Serencebey rise of Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey. A late Ottoman period mosque, it is constructed as a külliye consisting of a tekke, guest house, türbe, fountain, and library in addition to the mosque.

The construction of the mosque and the külliye complex is commissioned by Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II, and finished in 1887. It is dedicated to the founder of the Medeni branch of Shadhili (Turkish: Şaziliye) tariqa, a Tunisian sufi, Sheikh Hamza Zafir. The mosque is named after Ertuğrul Gazi, the father of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Osman I as a commendation to him.

The name also comes from the Ertuğrul regiment, a royal palace guard regiment who is compromised of Turks from the Domaniç region. Initially the complex only consisted of the mosque, tekke, and the guesthouse.

After the death of Sheikh Hamza Zafir in 1903, his türbe is constructed next to the mosque by the Italian architect Raimondo D'Aronco between 1905 and 1906. The library and the fountain are also added in this expansion. After the passing of Sheikh Hamza Zafir, his two brothers Muhammed Zafir Efendi and Beşir Zafir Efendi became the Sheikhs of the tekke. They are also buried in the türbe next to their elder brother.

The complex is mainly built as a guesthouse to various sheikhs and Islamic scholars that visits Istanbul from the Islamic world in an effort to strengthen the power of the position of the Caliphate in the Islamic world.

After the abolition of tekke's in 1925, the mosque and tekke are closed and the two guesthouse buildings are used as a primary school, Şair Nedim Primary School. Due to extensive wear over the years, all the buildings are closed in 1960. The mosque has been restored between 1969 and 1973 by the General Directorate for Foundations of the Republic of Turkey and it is opened to public in 1973.

Recently, all the buildings except the guesthouses have undergone through another restoration process. The restoration is started in 2008 and lasted for two years. The mosque and türbe opened to the public on 21 May 2010 by President Abdullah Gül. As of 2010, both the guesthouses are currently in a ruined state and are not used.

The mosque and the guesthouses are wooden constructions and represents the classical architecture of the late Ottoman period. The tomb, library, and the fountain are built in the Art Nouveau style.

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MESİH MEHMET PAŞA MOSQUE

Keçeciler, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'19.0"N 28°56'37.0"E / 41.021944, 28.943611



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The Mosque is in Istanbul's Fatih district, in Keçeciler, on Eski Ali Paşa street. It has been written on the tomb of Mesih Mehmed Pasha, that the mosque was built by Architec Mimar Sinan in 1585. Mesih Mehmed Pasha Mosque has one dome, one minaret and three doors. The Mosque was dedicated to one of Sultan Murad III's Grand Viziers, Mesih Mehmed Pasha.

Born in Bosnia, Mesih Mehmet Pasha had served at every level of the Palace administration to ascend to the level of Grand Vizier. In an interesting way, the side galleries in the mosque interior have been separated from the main space by a wall. The variety in the grill figures on the exterior wall is also quite striking. In an unusual way, the open tomb of Mesih Mehmet Pasha, who died in 1589, was placed in the center of the mosque court in place of a fountain.

Hadım Mesih Pasha was an Ottoman statesman. He was Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1585-1586. Born in Bosnia, Mesih Mehmet Pasha had served at every level of the Palace administration to ascend to the level of Grand Vizier. In an interesting way, the side galleries in the mosque interior have been separated from the main space by a wall. The variety in the grill figures on the exterior wall is also quite striking.

Having a rectangular plan, the mosque central dome is 12.8 m in diameter. Abundant windows provide a bright interior. Ablution cocks were placed under the porticos when the tomb of Mesih Pasha inconsistent with tradition replaced the şadırvan in the courtyard. In plan the building is an octagon inscribed in a square with semidomes as squinches in the diagonals; to north and south are galleries. But the odd feature is that what in most mosques of this form are aisles under the galleries are here turned into porches.

That is, where you would expect an arcade of columns, you find a wall with windows opening onto an exterior gallery which, in turn, opens to the outside by enormous arches, now glazed in. The mihrab and mimber are very fine works in marble, as are the grilles above the windows. Tiles of the best period complete the decoration of this interesting building.

The courtyard of the mosque is attractive but rather sombre. It consists of the usual domed porticoes under which, rather unusually, are the ablution fountains; this is because the place of the şadırvan in the centre of the courtyard has been taken by the picturesque open türbe of the founder. The mosque is preceded by a double porch, but the wooden roof of the second porch has disappeared, leaving the arcades to support nothing; the inner porch has the usual five bays.

A distinguishing feature from the other mosques built for the viziers is that there are no madrasa rooms at three of the sides of the mosque. It contains the simplest tile decoration among the Sinan’s buildings. The building was completed by the contribution of Mimar Davud Ağa.

The mosque contains the tomb of Mesih Paşha. In an unusual way, the open tomb of Mesih Mehmet Pasha, who died in 1589, was placed in the center of the mosque court in place of a fountain. It was completed in 1586 and was built before his dismissal from the grand vizierate.

This mosque, whose usage was intermitted after the earthquake of 1894, continued to be used after having been repaired in 1936 - 1939 and 1955 - 1957. The fountain under the mosque was restored in 1817 at the request of Beyhan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Mustafa III. Preservig its 16th century architectural character and form, the monument have remained still until the 20th century.

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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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YENİ (CEDİT) VALİDE MOSQUE

Üsküdar - İstanbul - Turkey

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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NURUOSMANİYE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Nuruosmaniye, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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BAYRAM PAŞA COMPLEX

Haseki, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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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YENİ VALİDE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Eminönü Square, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'01.4"N 28°58'19.9"E / 41.017056, 28.972194



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The Yeni Valide Mosque, more widely known as the Yeni or new mosque, is located adjoining the harbor on the southern bank of the Golden Horn, at the foot of the bridge connecting the historic peninsula with Karaköy to the north. Began in 1597 by Safiye Sultan, the mother of Mehmed III (1595-1603) and completed more than half a century later by Turhan Hatice Sultan, the mother of Mehmed IV (1648-1687), the mosque stands in a long tradition of architectural patronage by Ottoman queen mothers or valides. A dense Jewish neighborhood was cleared for the mosque designed by architect Davud Ağa, replaced by Dalgıç Mehmed Ağa after his death in 1598 until work halted in 1603.

Architect Mustafa Ağa completed the mosque between 1661 and 1663 and built a sultan's kiosk (hünkar kasrı), a room for Quran readers (darülkurra), tomb (türbe), Quranic school (sibyan mektebi), sabil (sebil), public fountains (çeşme), stores (dükkan) and a closed spice market known as the Egyptian bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı) around the mosque. A room for the mosque timekeeper (muvakkithane) was added in the nineteenth century. Details concerning the construction and organization of the complex are documented in waqf documents of the period kept in the Süleymaniye Library.

The mosque is set parallel to the shoreline, on the northwest-southeast axis. The L-shaped market, adjoined by a cemetery and a tomb to the east, defines a large courtyard on the hillside. Walls that separate the mosque from the lower docklands on the seaside, until their demolition in the nineteenth century, joined the market at either end to enclose an irregularly shaped precinct. Elevated above sea-level on a substructure of wooden pilings similar to the one used at the Büyükçekmece Bridge, the precinct was entered from five gates and gave access to all the subsidiary structures with the exception of the market, which was primarily entered from the street.

With the construction of the Galata Bridge in 1845 and the demolition of the precinct walls, a vibrant square emerged at the waterfront with commercial buildings built along the mosque. The Eminönü square was crossed by tramlines connecting the two sides of the Golden Horn and remained a transportation hub even after its buildings were demolished in the early Republican period to reveal the mosque. First used as an open-air bus terminal, the square largely disappeared through widening of the coastal highway in 1956 and the construction of a higway interchange in 1986 that permanently cut off the mosque from the waterfront.

The mosque courtyard is entered through three portals, one on each side, that are preceded by cascading set of steps. Slightly smaller than the mosque, the rectangular courtyard is enveloped by an arcade on three sides that meets the mosque portico to the southeast; a total of twenty-four domed bays carried on twenty columns. It has two tiers of windows at regular intervals that continue along the portico façade. At the center, is the marble ablution fountain: an octagonal basin enclosed with grilled windows between eight columns that hold up a small dome. Its marble surfaces are richly carved with floral arabesques. Tile panels have been used to decorate the lower sections of the portico façade, which has a mihrab niche and a balcony on either side of the mosque entrance.

The mosque has a plan similar to the Şehzade Mosque built half a century earlier by Mimar Sinan. Its rectangular prayer hall is covered by a large dome at its highest that is carried on pendentives with four grand arches elevated on four colossal piers. The dome is surrounded by four semi-domes, which in turn rest on three small semi-domes (longitudinal axis) or two semi-domes separated by an arch. Four independent domes cover the corners. The small semi-domes, or exedra semi-domes, help bring the upper structure down to the exterior walls except to the northwest, where the wall has been pushed outwards to make space for an internal arcade that houses the women's section at the back of the congregation.

Here, the semi-domes are carried on two smaller piers and two columns that reach the walls and the main piers with arches. The main piers also reach out to buttresses along the exterior walls by means of eight low arches that hang over the internal arcade as it wraps the mosque interior on three sides, ending at the qibla wall. The qibla end of the northeast gallery has been sectioned off to create the sultan's lodge, which is accessed through the sultan's kiosk outside the mosque. There is a marble muezzin's platform adjoining the western pier. Three tiers of windows, in addition to windows at the bases of domes and semi-domes, illuminate the interior.

The late classical period decoration of the interior is dominated by blue and turquoise colored tiles that line the surfaces of the walls, arcades and the piers up to the level of the third windows. Painted arabesques with dominant hues of blue, red and green cover the remaining surfaces of walls, arches and vaulting. A multi-tiered muqarnas cornice braces the structure at the springing of the dome arches, merging with muqarnas pendentives of the exedra semi-domes on its way. There is a lesser cornice below the third windows that is highlighted with gold paint on the piers. The stone carving of the mihrab and the minbar are of note, as well as the mother-of-pearl woodwork of the preacher's pulpit, windowpane and doors.

On the exterior, the ensemble is flanked on either side by a double-story arcade made up of alternating wide and narrow arches and marble balustrades. The arcade is covered with a slanting roof with wide eaves below the third tier of windows, and consists of three sections separated by protruding buttresses. The first section is a single story portico composed of three tall bays and abuts the base of the minaret near the courtyard wall. Reached by a cascading set of steps, the portico gives access to the mosque side entrance and the minaret steps on both sides of the mosque.

The third section of the northeast arcade is a private entryway for the sultan's kiosk protected with richly carved marble gates. There are additional ablution spigots along the basement walls of both arcades. Above, the pyramidal composition of domes and semi-domes is dominated by thick dome buttresses and their balancing turrets. The two minarets, located between the side entrances of the mosque and the courtyard, have three balconies of diminishing size that are adorned with muqarnas pendants and carved balustrades. The mosque was restored by the Directorate of Religious Endowments in 1936.

The Sultan's Kiosk
The Sultan's kiosk is elevated above a vaulted passageway at the eastern corner of the mosque, resting on a watchtower that was once part of the city walls. It is a rectangular apartment composed of a wide corridor with that gives access to two rooms and an iwan that face the Golden Horn to the north. The rooms are equipped by furnaces and have a common lavatory between them. A long ramp, attached to the back of the kiosk, allowed the sultan to accede on his horse and a short passage at the end of the corridor lead into the sultan's lodge inside the mosque. Five stores have been carved into the space underneath the ramp.

On the exterior, the kiosk is picturesque with its projecting sections carried on carved consoles and its wide eaves that shade its simple brick and stone walls. It is equally known for the exquisite decoration of its interior. Sixteenth century Iznik tiles, arranged into large floral panels, cover the walls from the ground to the ceiling. A band of inscriptive tiles separate the two tiers of windows that illuminate its tall interior. The arched top windows feature arabesques of colored glass inside the two rooms and mother-of-pearl has been used to decorate the doors and the wooden panes of casements. The painted wooden dome of the large corner room, hidden under the flat roof of the kiosk, is one of the few remaining of its kind.

The Tomb of Turhan Hatice Sultan
The tomb is sits inside the walled-in cemetery that adjoins the market to the south of the mosque. It is a large domed room with a three-bay portico to the northeast and a vaulted room that projects southwest, and houses the graves of Turhan Hatice Sultan, Sultan Osman III (1618-1622), Sultan Mehmed IV (1648-1687), Sultan Mustafa II (1695-1703), Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730) and Sultan Mahmud I (1730-1754), as well as numerous members of the royal family. Three tiers of windows illuminate the interior, which is decorated with floral tiles crowned by an inscriptive tile band above the lower casements. Its painted decoration was revised in 1959 based on the original motifs revealed under plasterwork of later periods.

Two smaller tombs, named Havatin and Cedid Havatin, were added to the northwest of the tomb in the nineteenth century. A small library, built by Sultan Ahmed I (1589-1617), adjoins the portico. The southeast precinct gate was torn down in 1904 along with the Quranic school (sibyan mektebi) and the room for Quran readers (darülkurra) to accommodate a bank headquarters. The sabil remains among office buildings to the southeast of the mosque.

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SINAN PASHA BEŞİKTAŞ MOSQUE

Beşiktaş - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°02'32.0"N 29°00'22.0"E / 41.042222, 29.006111



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The Sinan Pasha Mosque is an Ottoman mosque located in a densely populated district of Beşiktaş, in Istanbul, Turkey. It was built by famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan from the order of the admiral Sinan Pasha. The türbe (tomb) of Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha is located just across the street. Mosques of Mimar Sinan has been "said to have changed the history of architecture."

Built by the Grand Admiral Sinan Pasha, this mosque has been quite influential in making this neighborhood significant for all mariners. In time, the tradition of visiting the Tomb of Barbaros Hayrettin Pasha before the Ottoman Armada sailed on naval expeditions came to include a Friday prayer at the Sinan Pasha Mosque as well.

The plan scheme of the Sinan Pasha Mosque, built by Sinan the Architect for the Admiral Sinan Pasha between 1555 and 1556. Detailed renovation works were done in the years 1936, 1937, 1972 and 1974. The calligraphy embellishment decorating the 12.6 m in diameter main dome and the interior space of the mosque, was renewed in the 19th century.

The courtyard is surrounded by madrasah rooms instead of porticos and this is a fine example of a more traditional style. The madrasah with twelve rooms still had students in 1912. The construction quality of the fountain and the mosque were related to the death of Sinan Pasha during the construction. The double 600 m2 bath of the mosque was removed during the city planning works in 1957.

Marble fountain in the courtyard is original. There is small courtyard behind the madrasah rooms where the toilets are located. Death of Sinan Pasha before finishing the construction of Sinan Pasha has caused the construction to be much simpler when compared with other buildings of the age. Its restoration has been executed between the years 1999-2004 by General Directorate of Foundations, Istanbul Area Management of Foundations.

From sources it is understood that madrasa was opened to education in 1557, had 31 students in 1869 and was shelved in 1914. Madrasa alcoves in the courtyard of Sinan Pasha Mosque were not able to keep its originality up. Twelve madrasa alcoves which are supposed that it is square planned, consists of domed rooms and which comes into existence with pavement of brick in alternative system are roofed today. It is not known when this roof was sited there and it is supposed that it was constructed by General Directorate of Foundations in 1930s. Only marble water-tank in its courtyard was able to reach today with its original form. There is a small courtyard including toilets behind madrasa rooms.

Sinan has added a second eave in front of last assembly place in this mosque and he first time located madrasah rooms behind the courtyard porches. In the time when the last assembly place of the building was added to mosque’s inner location, it is possible that some of these madrasah rooms and possibly the mosque entry could have been ruined. Porch arrangement in the courtyard also doesn’t maintain its original arrangement and madrasah rooms are now covered by roof.

As with the structures he designed for other Grand Admirals, Sinan used a traditional plan type here. In a way, as can be observed by those who have seen that building. Upon the death of Sinan Pasha, his brother, the Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha, completed the mosque. The original complex included a madrasa and double baths, in addition to the mosque.

The window arrangement lighting the Mosque is also same as that of the mosque, Üç Şerefeli Cami (the mosque with minaret having three balconies). Part of the minaret above the prayer balcony was ruined during the 1999 Marmara earthquake and rebuilt afterwards. The madrasa surrounds the courtyard of the mosque. The repairwork during 1970-1972 has somewhat altered the original form of the building, with the wooden cover over the portico.

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