KUYUCU MURAT PASHA MOSQUE COMPLEX

Vezneciler, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'46.3"N 28°57'29.2"E / 41.012863, 28.958122



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The building complex is about 17. Century with a madrasa, a tomb, primary school and sabil(serving fountain) perhaps at the time of chief architect Sedefkar Mehmet Ağa, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Ahmet I. The inner part of the Madrasa is serving as Fine Arts Department of Istanbul Unıversity. The other parts and magazins are rented to individuals by the foundation.

The classical style Madrasah was built by Grand Vizier Kuyucu Murat Pasha, of Pomak origin, in 1610. L-shaped, with 14 rooms, the madrasah undergone numerous restorations during its history. Kuyucu Murat Pasha Madrasah in Vezneciler Street. Kuyucu Murat Pasha Madrasah is today the Faculty of Fine Arts of İstanbul University.

This elegant little complex was built in 1606 by Kuyucu Murat Paşa, Grand Vezir in the reign of Sultan Ahmet I. Murat Paşa received his nickname kuyucu, or the pit-digger, from his favourite occupation of supervising the digging of trenches for the mass burials of the rebels he had slaughtered.

The apex of the triangle is formed by the columned sebil, with simple classical lines. Facing the street is an arcade of shops in the middle of which a doorway leads to the courtyard of the medrese.

The tomb of the Kuyucu Murat Pasha, who died in 1611, is situated next to the madrasah. Also, buried in the tomb, are Abaza Ahmet Pasha (1638) and Cağaloğlu Sinan Paşazade Mehmet Pasha.

Entering, we find the türbe of the founder in the acute angle behind the sebil, and at the other end the dershane, which, as so often, served also as a small mosque. This building has been taken over and restored by Istanbul University; the courtyard has been roofed in and used as a small museum, while the dershane contains a library.

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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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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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VALİDE PERTEVNİYAL MOSQUE

Aksaray Square, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'37.0"N 28°57'10.0"E / 41.010278, 28.952778



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The Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque, also known as the Aksaray Valide Mosque (Turkish: Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Camii, Aksaray Valide Sultan Camii), is an Ottoman imperial mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It is located at the intersection of Ordu Street and Atatürk Boulevard in the Aksaray neighborhood. It is located next to Pertevniyal High School (Turkish: Pertevniyal Lisesi) which was also built by the order of Sultana Pertevniyal in 1872.

One of the last mosques built in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire, the Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque was built for the Sultana Pertevniyal, wife of Sultan Mahmud II and mother of Sultan Abdülaziz. It was designed by the Italian architect Montani. The construction work began in November 1869, and the mosque was finished in 1871.

The complex, which comprises several buildings around a central mosque (külliye), was commissioned by Pertevniyal Valide Sultan and consists of a mosque, a tomb, a sabil, a public fountain, a clock-room where timepieces for calculating prayer times accurately on a daily basis were kept, a library, and a theological school (madrasa). The mosque is a single-domed, square prayer hall, following the traditional plan. In front of its strongly vertical mass is an additional two-storey building that comprises the portico for latecomers, men's and women's areas, the sultan's loge and various rooms.

Attached to this additional building, separate from the main body of the mosque, are two minarets, each with a single balcony. The square prayer hall measures 10 m x 10 m and is extended with arches on four sides. The mosque's east, west and south façades are all emphasised with turrets and the outward projections of their central sections are each crowned with a triangular pediment. Each section has two rows of three windows. The dome, separated from the walls and brought inward, is supported on a high, 12-sided drum.

The Valide Mosque is located on the north-west side of Aksaray Square in Fatih. The Valide Mosque stands at the very beginning of the Atatürk Boulevard, at the crossroads of the Aksaray Square. It was built at the behest of Sultan Abdülaziz's (1861-1876) mother, Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, between 1869-1871 and was designed by the architect, Sarkis Balyan. It is also known that Agop Balyan made a contribution to the project. It is claimed by some sources that the architecture of the mosque was Montani, an Italian architect.

There had previously stood a mosque named Hacı Mustafa Ağa located on the former site of the Valide Mosque. The present-day Valide Mosque was built on the ruins of that mosque. It was mainly designed as a complex which including a muvakkithane (a time keeping room), a fountain, a tomb and Sıbyan Mektebi (an Ottoman elementary-primary school). The mosque is composed of two sections: the last prayer section and the Harim (sanctum sanctorum). The size of the Harim is 10 x 10 m, and the ceiling structure is composed of a dome.

The Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque is noteworthy for the density and variety of its decoration. The projecting central sections of the façades and the windows on the drum of the dome are executed in the Gothic style. The design of triple blind niches above the windows, for instance, borrow elements from Ottoman decorative art, while their location recalls examples from North African and Andalusian architecture.

The blind niches, as well as the decorative compositions of arabesques and palmettes on the façades, are, like the muqarnas, elements borrowed from Classical Ottoman art. The corner turrets, each of which terminates in a lobed onion-dome reminiscent of Indian architecture, are decorated with niches containing muqarnas, again borrowed from Classical Ottoman architecture, as well as the simple blind niches and various geometric motifs.

The Neo-Gothic style of the Valide Mosque differentiates it architecturally from the more classic mosques. The single dome is quite high, but small. The mosque's main body and front are different from any other mosques built up to that period. The neo-gothic embellishments, in particular, reinforce the mosque's unique beauty. The interior of the mosque also boasts an array of rich and beautiful embellishments. The interior is fully decorated with-blue inscriptions and engravings shining with gold gilding. The mosque has two minarets and a single gallery.

Among the historical mosques of Istanbul, its ornaments and decorations have been more extensively used than others. The western impact on the architectural design during the period, combined with 16th-17th century decoration techniques, have been blended together in the mosque. Additionally, the decorations still shine with a gleaming, blue color, and its engraved ornaments have become prominent elements within the architectural aesthetic. Both the inner and outer sides of the mosque’s walls are marble panels decorated with motifs and calligraphies depicting selected verses from the Qur’an.

The interior space, like the façades, is densely decorated. Ottoman motifs are used in painted decoration (kalemişi) in which blue dominates. A cornice with muqarnas surrounds the upper section of the lower row of windows. On the surfaces of the walls, as on the façades, classical Ottoman elements are found including blind niches, muqarnas, arch motifs, arabesques, and Chinese-inspired floral ornament. The marble mihrab and minbar are plain.

The door of the courtyard, which looks out onto Aksaray Square, is strikingly different from other mosques of İstanbul  The door frame is one of the rare and unique examples of the art of stone engraving. The stone workmanship on the court door opening toward the Aksaray Square is the pinnacle of success of Ottoman stone workmanship.

The mosque is actually part of a complex made up of a school, tomb, clock room and public fountain. During the reorganization of Aksaray Square in 1956-1959 the other parts of the complex were either destroyed or, as in the case of the public fountain, moved elsewhere. Due to the renovation of the underpass and of the upper roads as well as to the increasing of the overall height of the road, the mosque appears to be burried underground today.

Wood Carving And Inlays
The ancient Turkish art of wood carving makes use of a variety of different design techniques on traditional forms such as columns, doors, window covers, chests, stools, and Quran covers. By the seventeenth century, inlays of ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl and other semi-precious stones were applied as inlays for carved wood pieces.

Perhaps the most ubiquitous use of mother-of-pearl inlays in Turkey are to be found in palace furniture and architecture. The most magnificent sites for such incomparable work are the Topkapı Palace, the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, the Tomb of Murad III, the Beylerbeyi Palace and the Blue Mosque.

Stone Carving
Frequently used on the walls of buildings, mosques, minarets, gates, columns, pools and tombstones as a decorative feature, stone carvings added strenght and durability to structures in addition to its aesthetic function. Although almost all kinds of stones were used for carving and art work, marble and sandstone traditionally have been the most frequently used stone for this purpose.

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SÜLEYMANİYE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Süleymaniye - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 1°00'59.0"N 28°57'50.0"E / 41.016389, 28.963889



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This mosque is one of the incomparable architectural works that defines the silhouette and identity of Istanbul. Even though its grand size and dimensions, the Complex was one of the most significant construction operations in the history of the Ottoman Empire, it displays an overall simplicity and austerity. This is probably due to the personal preferences and religiosity of Sultan Süleyman, known as the Lawgiver. Many of the measurements relating to its construction are thought to have symbolic meanings.

The complex is located in Süleymaniye, the neighbourhood of Eminönü named after it. It was built by Sultan Süleyman, the Magnificent in 1557 and designed by Architect Sinan. The Süleymaniye Complex represented the second and most important stage in an architectural tradition which began with the Fatih Complex, namely a symmetrical grouping and use of geometric shaping among the layout of the complex buildings.

The Süleymaniye Complex is composed of 15 sections: 1-Mosque, 2-Rabi Madrasah (High School), 3-Salis Madrasah (Intermediate School), 4-Evvel Madrasah (Elementary School), 5-Sani Madrasah (Seconday School), 6-Tıp Madrasah (Medical School), 7-The Tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent, 8-The Tomb of the Hürrem Sultan (Roxelana, wife of the Suleiman the Magnificent ), 9-Türbedar (caretaker) Room, 10-Bimarhane (hospital), 11-Darüzziyafe (Restaurant, previously a soup kitchen in the 16th century), 12-Darülhadis Madrasah (school of traditions of the Prophet), 13-Tabhane (the hostel attached to a mosque where travellers usually dervishes and mystics) could live free for three days), 14-The Tomb of the Architect Sinan, 15-Bathhouse

The Süleymaniye Complex, consisting of a large number of courtyards and a caravansarai, was constructed starting on June 13, 1550 through October 15, 1557 by Architect Sinan (the grand old master of Ottoman architecture). A total of 3,523 workers were employed during the construction of the complex. There were 1,713 Muslim employees. Stones and columns of the complex were brought from different regions of the Ottoman Empire: Bozcaada, İzmit, Mut, Ezine, Gazze Lebanon, etc. In addition, other building materials were brought from different regions of the Ottoman Empire to be used in the complex.

The Süleymaniye Mosque and Complex incorporate the art and genius of Architect Sinan, the greatness and strenght of the Ottomans and the beauty and elegance of İstanbul. During the construction of the nosque, one of the largest building supply sheds in the history of architecture was realised. The supplies were brought from all corners of the Empire. The columns found in some ancient ruins were detached, brought to İstanbul and used in the interior of the mosque.

Various documents mention that the four main columns in the Mosque, one brought from the Artemis Temple in Ephesus, two from Egypt, and one from Istanbul, were erected to represent the four Caliphs of Islam. Overall, it displays the major canons, which became the bases of Sinan’s classical architecture and influenced subsequent periods as sources of design and building.

The mosque is surrounded by an outer courtyard with the kiblah, or direction to Mecca, being on one side along with an enclosed cemetery containing graves and a mausoleum; the opposite side of the kiblah contains an inner courtyard. The marble-covered inner courtyard is entered through a magnificent three-storey door the likes of which are seen in no other mosque in İstanbul. The courtyard contains a pool and water-jet fountain. Again unlike other mosques, the four minarets stand in the four corners of the courtyard. The proportion exhibited by the minarets and the domes is a product of genius.

The domes rise from the ground to a height of 50 meters, and the minarets located where the courtyard meets the walls of the mosque have three galleries and are 76 meters high. The minarets located at the side of the courtyard with the entrance have two galleries and are 56 meters high. This proportion is the key to the perfection of the mosque's silhouette. The mosque has a main dome supported by two half-domes. Due to the design of the domes, the acoustics within the mosque are exceptionally clear.

A huge dome covers the main chamber of the mosque, which has four minarets. The main entrance to the mosque is from an inner courtyard that is surrounded by porticoes and has an ablution fountain in the center. The spaciousness, unity and exquisite decorations add to the imposing view of the interior. The 53 m high central dome with a diameter of 26.50 m rests on four pillars called elephant-feet. All the architectural elements of the interior are in perfect harmony with one another. The static balance of the structure is faultless too.

The air circulation within the mosque is also exceptional and the space above the entrance is illuminated by 4000 candles. Soot obtained from the candles is one of the raw materials in the making of ink used for callgraphy.

The marble pulpit and mosque niche are works of art in the field of engraving and carving. The carved lectern of the preacher, window and doors of wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl, stained glass windows and other decorative features of mosques have a low profile; the emphasis in the interior of the mosque is on decorative through calligraphy. Verses from the Koran are inscribed on the walls in some of the supreme examples of the Turkish art of calligraphy.

Numerous earthquakes that have shaken Istanbul over the centuries have not caused a single crack in the building. The baroque decorations of the inside of the dome were made in the 19th century. The handmade carpet with a mihrap design covering the floor was placed here in the 1950's. The most attractive features of the interior are the extremely colorful, 16th century original stained glass windows with Turkish motifs in the wall of the mihrap. A very simple balcony for the chanters is situated next to the minber, and the mihrap niche made of marble is decorated with tiles. The sultan's loge is to the left of the mihrab.

The largest and most imposing mosque in Istanbul, the city of domes and minarets, is the Süleymaniye. The aesthetic supremacy of its interior and exterior and its perfect proportions have been captivating the visitors for centuries. The Süleymaniye Mosque is an architectural masterpiece. The 16th century was the golden age of the Ottoman Empire. Süleyman the Magnificent, the longest reigning among the thirty-six Ottoman sultans, ruled for 47 years in this century. The great sultan entrusted the construction of the mosque to bear his name to Sinan, the Süleymaniye, southern facade with stained glass windows, and the Friday congregation.

 Sinan completed the mosque and the large complex surrounding it between 1550-1557. The mosque was one of many demonstrations of the genius of Sinan, the father of classical Turkish architecture. The complex surrounding the mosque was composed of schools, a library, baths, public kitchens, caravanserai, a hospital and shops. The beauty of the exterior of the mosque is best appreciated from a distance.

The two minarets located at the two sides of the facade have two balconies each, and the two other two, which are at the other end of the square on each side öf the porch, have three balconies each. The total number, for the four minarets, yields ten balconies, all with corbelling in stalactites. Three beautiful doors whose openings are formed of flattened curues are each surmounted by an ogee arch and give access through the frontage and the two other sides of the courtyard.

A cloister of twenty four arcades runs around and is supported by an equal number of columns. The pair closest to the door in the facade are of porphyry;  of the remainder, twelve columns of pink granite alternate with ten of white marble. All are of the crystallized order. Their capitals are of white marble, and the edges of their stalactites heavily gilded.

The door of the nave is a niche decorated with stalactites, also fashioned from gilded white marble in a design of great purity and aspect of true monumentality. The proportions are large. Two other smaller niches are located along each side at half the distance between the entrance to the nave and the courtyard wall. The windows of the porch have quadrangular bays surmounted by ogee arches lavishly decorated with glazed tiles that have a royal blue ground on which beautiful Arabic letters are interlaced, tracing out in pure white sacred verses from the Quran.

A very simple fountain, in the form of a parallelogram with four vertical faces and covered by a zinc roof, occupies the center of the square. Its decoration, sober and gracious, consists of a metal grill painted in emerald green and an openwork lattice of geometrical rosettes, above which runs a frieze of white marble carued with broad leaves whose hearts are slightly tinted aquamarine.

The court is entirely paved with enormous flagstones of white marble, except for the passage which gives access, through the porch, inside the mosque. There, in front of.the main door, is placed a round monolithic flagstone of the richest porphyry with a diameter of approximately two meters.

Be that as it may, afterpassing over the legendary porphyry flagstone, we enter the nave, where we first of all are overcome by our admiration of the lofty and vast cupola of the dome, painted in a wash of clear tones of blue, white, and gold. These three colors form the basis of the entire decorative harmony of the building: its paintings, sculptures, precious marbles, tiles, etc, both inside and out. Everywhere, the white and blue dominate the white especially. A few pink granite and porphyry columns or insets, a few lines the color of blood, freshen the light without interrupting this harmony; the gildings of the stalactites are everywhere applied with a solemnity that does not disturb the tranquility.

Another curiosity worthy of remark, and which could be proposed as an example to architects, is the following one: tunnels dug in the ground and faced with solid masonry, lead from the interior of the mosque to external tanks that are used for the distribution of water to all the dependencies of the Süleymaniye. The famous architect of this mosque, Master Sinan, combined this supply so as to take advantage of it in order to maintain inside the nave a mild and uniform temperature. By means of wooden trap doors that are located all over the central part of the floor of the nave, the air contained in these underground tunnels is fed into the mosque, where, as a result, the temperature is always warm in winter and cool in summer.

All the inscriptions that decorate the Süleymaniye were executed by the famous calligrapher Hasan Çelebi, who is buried beside his master in Sütlüce by the Sweet Teaters of Europe. Among the outstanding calligraphic ornamentation one should particularly mention the large rosettes of glazed tiles adorned with white letters on a royal blue ground and framed by borders of foliage executed in turquoise blue which decorate the two sides of the mihrab. Like the pulpitp laced to its left, the mihrab is made of white marble, cazved in stalactites that are gilded with gold. The marble plates composing the pulpit number only four. The gate and base are formed of single slabs and measure eight meters, one in its length and the other in its height.

T'hese are also the measurements of the niche in which the mihrab is set. The imperial loge, situated at the right, is also of white. It is supported by porphyry columns with capitals in the crystallized order that are fashioned of gilded white marble. There are two richly decorated fountains that are intended for ablutions. The door of this loge is, like all the woodwork of the building, engulfed in carved geometric rosettes. A kürsü (pulpit) abutting the pillar closer to the imperial loge is also worthy of mentioning for the remarkable

Excecution of work of this last kind, in which walnut has been finely cut with open-work and carved with boldness and delicacy. At the other end of the nave, on the pillar on the opposite side, the balcony of the müezzin is set. Simpler, but almost as beautiful as the imperial loge, it is also of the crystallized order. Behind the muezzin's balcony along the low sides, is located the library, separated from the nave by a superb screen of brass worked in rococo ornamentation. It was repaired during the reign of Sultan Mahmud I by his grand vizier, Mustafa Pasha. More recently, this screen was renovated by Ahmed Vefik Efendi.

In one honorable exception the tomb of Master Sinan was respected, and thus, thanks to the very special indulgence of the sovereign, one may see still see standing over the slab of white marble, the grandmaster Ottoman architecture, the typical turban of the haseki corps. The principal dependencies of the Süleymaniye are: a special college for the study of the oral traditions of the Prophet; four higher schools (medreses); a preparatory college for the sciences; a school of medicine; a primary school; a kitchen and hospice for students; a great public bath; and a very famous asylum for lunatics.

Tomb
Located in the Süleymaniye Mosque Complex, the mausoleum of Sultan Süleyman, the Magnificent was designed by the Architect Sinan in 1566. The kiblah side of the mosque has a covered cemetery with a great number of graves, the tombs of Süleyman, the Magnificent and his wife Hürrem Sultan and a room for the keeper of the tombs. The octagonal mausoleum has an impressive dome and its exterior is ornamented with marble and mirrors, while the interior walls are covered with glazed tiles. Ceramic tiles with decorative plant motif are used in the tombs and have artistic value.

This is the tomb of the great architect Sinan, who lived to be ninety-nine years old and was for 50 years the extremely esteemed and respected chief architect of the empire. Sinan was a diligent and productive architect who left over four hundred works behind him. He is the most important figure in classical Turkish architecture, of which he was the originator. His apprentices created masterpieces not only in the empire, but also in other Islamic countries.

In the tomb belonging to Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent are the remains of Sultan Ahmed II, his wife Rabia Sultan, daughters Mihrimah Sultan and Asiye Sultan, and Sultan Süleyman II and his mother Saliha Dilaşub Sultan. Sultan Ahmed II and Sultan Süleyman II were interred beside Süleyman the Magnificent in the grounds of the Süleymaniye Camii.

Hospital
The clinic, hospital, mental asylum and infirmary are located in the northwest of the complex parallel to the kiblah. A part of the medical school located alongside of these two madrasahs collapsed during the road opening work and the rest of it was turned into a hospital. The building located on the right side of the Medical School and the crossband of the coutryard of the mosque was used as an insane asylum during the Ottoman Empire era.

Darüzziyafe
The soup kitchen of the complex the Darüzziyafe, functions today as a restaurant serving classical Turkish cuisine.

Medresse
The medresse of complex is found to the east and west of the mosque along the walls of the inner courtyard. To the west is the Evvel Medresse, Sani Medresse, Primary School, Medical West; the Rabi Medresse and Salis Medresse are located to the east. The Darülhadis Medresse intersect. It is a single hamam for men only and was restored in 1980 after being used as a store room for a period.

Hamam
The hamam of the complex is located where Rabi Medrese and Darülhadis Medrese intersect. It is a single hamam for men only and was restored in 1980 after being used as a store room for a period.

Tabhane
Tabhane (the hostel attached to a mosque where travelers (usually dervishes and mystics) could live free for three days) are located on the road toward the northwest part of the complex and over against the courtyard.

Library
There are six madrasahs of the complex with the Medical School. Those madrasahs toward the direction of Bayezit are Evvel Madrasah (Elementary School) and Sani Madrasah (Secondary School) which are used as the Suleymaniye Library.

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FATİH MOSQUE COMPLEX

Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'11.0"N 28°57'00.0"E / 41.019722, 28.950000



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The complex extends along the Golden Horn side of Fevzi Paşa Street in Fatih. Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror had the complex constructed by the architect, Atik Sinani between the years 1463-1470. It was the largest example of Turkish-Islamic architecture to that date and represented an important stage in the development of classical Turkish architecture.The complex includes a set of well-planned buildings constructed around a mosque. They include: a medresse, a library, a hospital, a hospice, a caravanserai, a market, a hamam and various tombs which were added at a later date.

Fatih Mosque was constructed in the classic mosque style, but the Baroque influence can be seen in the decorations. A large dome of 26 meters in diameter is supported by four half-domes and rests upon four large marble columns. There are two minarets each with twin galleries. The calligraphy within the mosque exhibits a Baroque influence. The other important features of the complex are the medresses. Situated on both sides of the mosque, they were the foundation of İstanbul's universities and ensured the city's place as a center of education.

MOSQUE
The Fatih Mosque was built by Fatih Sultan Mehmed, in Fatih region of Istanbul. In the reign of Byzantine, Havariyun Church was located on mosque’s place. It is thought that Fatih Mosque was built by using the ruins of that church. As informed, from the Arabic inscription on the both sides of the Cümle kapısı, the mosque was started to be built in 1467 and ended in 1470. The architect of the mosque is Sinaüddin Yusuf bin Abdullah. Mosque is built in the form of a monument.

Central dome, is constructed on two elephant foot shaped columns. Because the mosque ruined in an earthquake in 1766, Sultan Mustafa III, was restored it, to Architect Mehmed Tahir Ağa between 1767 and 1771.  The dome of the mosque collapsed in the 1766 earthquake and was reconstructed entirely in 1771.

The Fatih Mosque is the sanctuary of the imperial complex built by Mehmed II to commemorate his conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It stands at the center of an expansive precinct that was entered through gates along the northern and southern walls and between madrasa (medrese) buildings that enclose the space to the east and the west. The architect of the mosque, as of the complex, is Atik Sinan (Old Sinan). Built between 1463 and 1470, the complex was restored by Bayezid I following an earthquake in 1509. The dome of the mosque collapsed in the 1766 earthquake and was reconstructed entirely in 1771.

From its original construction only three parts of the fountain wall, the fountain, the crown door, the altar, the minarets till the first gallery, the porch parallel to the Kıble (direction of Mecca) wall are remained today. Outer hoop of the domes are octagonal and they are constructed on belts. Belts are generally decorated with red stone and white marble, and green stone is used only in decorating the pivot. Upstairs’ and downstairs’ window sides are encircled with silver thread. The door posts are made of marble and they are pointed out with a strong silver thread.

Iron railings are made from thick iron and they are knobby. There are eight porch columns, eight of them are green, two of them are pink, two of them are from brunette granite, the some of them are made out of Egyptian granite. Whole crowns are from marble. Cell corners are green poled, decorated with sand clocks and the head ends with a kind corolla.

Mehmed Tahir Ağa restored the mosque in the 19th century, he combined the remaining parts of the claasical mosque with baroque style parts he designed. Because the plaster windows of the mosque were ruined they were changed to simple windows. The fire pool near the Garden door was made built by Sultan Mahmud II in 1825. The mosque has a wide garden. The door was opening to clinic (tabhane) was remained from the old mosque.

Our knowledge of the original mosque is limited to the accounts and sketches of travelers and chroniclers. According to these sources, the mosque had large entry hall with a tall dome supported by a semi-dome of equal radius over the mihrab and three colossal arches on the remaining three sides. This ensemble was flanked by three domed bays to the east and west and was entered through an arcaded courtyard to the north. Three wings of the original courtyard have remained to our day. The new mosque by Mustafa III has also incorporated the portal, the mihrab and the lower shafts of the minarets belonging to the original structure.

The reconstruction by head-architect Mehmed Tahir was realized in the appropriate historic style, distinct from the rococo fashion seen in the contemporary mosques of Nuruosmaniye and Laleli. The form, however, was altered for the most part. The new mosque is slightly wider than the old one and has a tall central dome held by semi-domes on all four sides in ways that resemble the classical mosques of the sixteenth century. Four small domes complete the corners of the pyramid-like space. The plan, oriented 32 degrees east of south, is wider than it is deep and is equal in size to the open courtyard that precedes the mosque.

The courtyard has one main and two side entrances. The main portal is located to the northwest, on axis with the entry to the mosque and the ablution fountain at the center of the courtyard. It is adorned with seven rows of stalactites inside three arches. The side entrances, with cascading steps on the outside, are located where the courtyard gallery meets the taller portico of the mosque.

Windows placed low in each bay of the gallery creates visual connection between the mosque courtyard and the lower grounds. The gallery columns are carved of granite, white marble and green stone. The tympana of each window is adorned with Koranic inscriptions in white and green marble on the precinct side. Ceramic tiles other inscriptions decorate the tympana of two windows inside the mosque portico.

The mosque entrance is marked by the raised dome and the green and white voussoirs of the central bay of portico. The muqarnas portal, maintained from the original structure, has been transformed on the interior with the addition of a balcony above its ribbed semi-vault and a raised terrace (mahfil) with side bays at its front. The central dome, supported by two elephant piers and two porphyry columns in the old structure, is carried on four large piers that section the interior space. The decorative painting of the interior reflects the baroque influence on 18th century Ottoman architecture.

While rebuilding the mosque, the side walls were taken in to accommodate sheltered terraces on either side that have rows of faucets for ablution. A ramp was built on the eastern corner adjoining the marble royal lodge (hünkar mahfili) to allow the sultan enter on his horse. The original Fatih Mosque had two minarets with single balconies. They were rebuilt with two minarets after the earthquake, incorporating the old foundations and the lower shafts. The minarets were refurbished in empire style during the 19th century; their stone spires were replaced by lead spires in 1965, with no alteration to the balconies. The mosque is currently under restoration to repair damage caused by the earthquake on August 18, 1999.

FATIH KÜLLİYESİ (BUILDING COMPLEX OF FATİH)
Fatih Külliyesi which was built at the same time with the Fatih Mosque is composed of a school (mektep), library, 16 classes (medrese), a hospice (imaret), an inn (kervansaray), a clinic (tabhane), an asylum (darüşşifa) and a bath (hamam). The schools are at the south and north side of the mosque and are named as the Black Sea school, the Mediterranean Sea school, Başkurşunlu school and Çifteayakkurşunlu school. These schools are composed of 19 cells, one classroom, and four toilets. Schools are encircled with porches and they have courtyards with fountains. Porch domes do not have hoops.

The hospice is on the wide west part of the clinic’s courtyard. It is made out of thick stone walls. Its plan could not have been found but it is understood from the ruins that there were two domes with windows and a wall connecting these. The inn is at the south-eastern corner of the clinic’s courtyard. The entrance supposed to be located at the beginning of the way from Public Library opening to Nakşidil Tomb.

The clinic is in the south-eastern part of the mosque. The clinic is a structure which is separated from the surrounding walls of the mosque with a road and its surrounding walls cover the hospice and the inn with the dimensions of 64x43 meter rectangle. Entrance is from the west.

The Bursa arch shows that the saloon was a big open antechamber (eyvan) with 5.5 meters wide and 7 meters high . At both sides of the antechamber there were two rooms which have stoves and connected to each other with inner doors. The hole which is just in front of the saloon have two domes on both left and right sides is uncovered to give the impression of a kind of side antechamber. The big dome with an open antechamber was used in the summers, the two rooms upstairs were used in winter times and namaz place with two domes, and with antechambers were used to put goods of the guests.

Library
The original library was located in a separate building which no longer exists today. The present library building was built in 1742, and the remaining collection of the old library was carried to the new library. The existing manuscript collection of the library was also carried to the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library in 1956. Currently, the old architectural fabric of the library is undergoing restoration.

The Black Sea and Mediterranean Madrasas
Sixteen madrasas, arranged in two rows of four to the northeast and southwest of the mosque area, are called the Black Sea (Karadeniz Medreseleri) and Mediterranean (Akdeniz Medreseleri) Madrasas. Each medrese complex is composed of four senior madrasas that abut the mosque precinct and four junior madrasas (tetimme medreseleri) placed behind them. Three of the four junior madrasas on the Black Sea Complex have been rebuilt at different points in time, while the junior madrasas of the Mediterranean complex have been demolished to give way to highway expansion in 1928. The Mediterranean madrasas were modified further in 1958 when the walls of the senior madrasas were excavated to match the street level.

Each senior madrasa has nineteen domed rooms, a large classroom (dersane) and two service eyvans protected by a domed arcade enclosing a rectangular courtyard. Their classrooms have mihrab niches and are distinguished with ornamental brickwork on window exteriors. The junior madrasas are of equal length but are lower and less wide than the senior madrasas. They have ten rooms each with a flat-roofed arcade on two or three sides of a long and thin courtyard. The portals of all eight madrasas face the mosque and their arcades have been glazed for contemporary use.

The Hospital and the Hospice Precincts (The Hospice, Soup Kitchen and the Caravanserai)
The hospital (darüssifa) and the hospice (tabhane) had their own enclosed precincts to the southwest of the mosque and the madrasas. The hospital, that is no longer extant, was probably destroyed in the 1766 earthquake; its site has been taken up by housing. It was built on a square plan, with rooms of various sizes around a courtyard with a domed arcade.

The hospice has survived to our day with some rebuilding in the 19th century when it was converted to a madrasa. It boasts a rectangular courtyard building with a forecourt to the northwest. It has ten single-bay rooms on all four sides of the arcaded courtyard, double-bay spaces on either end of the northeast and southwest wings and a large domed eyvan placed on axis with the entrance at the center of the southeastern wing. The double-bay rooms on the north and west corners are the hospice kitchens and are accessed only through the forecourt.

The other two are side eyvans that lead into adjoining dining rooms. The large eyvan, ornamented with muqarnas pendentives, has stalactite niches on either side of the entrance and on qibla wall. A set of stairs set into a wall on the southwestern wing leads up to a mezzanine (kursunluk) and storage areas; there is a side entry located next to the stairs. The hospice is constructed of stone, except for portions of the southeastern wall, which was restored in brick and stone.

There was once a soup kitchen (imaret) and a caravanserai (kervansaray) sited along the southwestern wall of the hospice precinct. Little remains of the soup kitchen; it was a small building with three rooms in a U-shaped plan. It provided food twice daily for the guests in the caravanserai, the students of the madrasas and employees of the complex as well as the poor people in the neighborhood.

There were remains of the caravanserai until 1930, it has since been rebuilt with extensions and is used for commercial purposes. It was a long rectangular building consisting of a series of rooms with barrel vaults. Also found in the hospice precinct is a structure built as a police station (karakolhane) by Sultan Mahmud II in 1838 (1254 A.H.) and another to the south of the hospice that was built as a Military High School in 1875 (1292 A.H.)

Library and Kouranic School
The complex had a library (kütüphane) and a Koranic School (mekteb) that were single unit structures located along the precinct walls probably between the Painter's Gate and the Pastry Maker's Gate. The library was lost sometime during the 19th century. The current library of the complex was built in 1742 (1155 A.H.) by Mahmud I and is located to the southwest of the mosque, adjoining the prayer hall. There is no trace of the Koranic School.

Mausolea of Sultan Mehmed II, Gülbahar Sultan and Nakşidil Sultan
Sultan Mehmed II or Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (30 March 1432 - 3 May 1481). Sultan Mehmet II also known as el-Fatih, "the Conqueror" in Ottoman Turkish; in modern Turkish, Fatih Sultan Mehmet; also called Mohammet II in early modern Europe was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Rum until the conquest) for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from February 1451 to 1481. At the age of 21, he conquered Constantinople and brought an end to the Byzantine Empire, absorbing its administrative apparatus into the Ottoman state.

The mausoleum of Sultan Mehmed, built by Sultan Bayezid II in 1482, is found within the Fatih Mosque Complex. This grand marble mausoleum is crowned with a ten-sided dome, and its interior is elaborately decorated with gold and silver.

It is in the tomb of Sultan Mehmed The Conqueror and located in the Mosque of Fatih. The first tomb was built in front of altar, but it was destroyed in the earthquake in 1766. The new tomb was erected on the foundation of the first one. Its door frame was renovated and a verse and a piece of the Koran were written on it by the order of Sultan Abdülhamid I, in 1784.

The large and excavated eaves outside the tomb are in the baroque style, belong to the end of 18th century and beginning of 19th century. Fatih Tomb was repaired again in 1865, in the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz, golden drawings and sash windows were made.

The two royal tomb, located in the cemetery behind the qibla wall of mosque, were rebuilt on their stone bases following the earthquake of 1766. The tomb of Mehmed II is a decagonal building covered by a dome. The corners of the decagon are marked with pilasters on the exterior and the walls are capped with a rococo cornice. Entered through a low vestibule to the northeast, the tomb remains as it was restored during the rule of Abdülaziz I (1861-1876).

The tomb of Gülbahar Sultan is a hexagonal domed unit and houses the tombs of Gülbahar, the wife of Sultan Mehmed II, one of their daughters and two other palace members. In 1817, a third large tomb was built in the cemetery for Nakşidil Sultan, mother of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839), in the contemporary empire style. The cemetery, which holds graves of many significant people, was also enclosed at this time.

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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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AHMEDİYE ÜSKÜDAR MOSQUE

Üsküdar - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'12.8"N 29°00'58.5"E / 41.020222, 29.016250



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The Ahmediye Mosque Complex on Gündoğumu Street in Üsküdar, according to its epitaph, was built on the site of the ruined Kefçe Hoca Mosque by the Dockmaster Eminzade Ahmet Ağa under Sultan Ahmet III, between 1721 and 1722. The architect Mehmet Ağa constructed this out of the rubble mosque. It underwent restorations in 1864 and 1888.

The mosque complex consisting of a mosque, a school, a library, a kiosk, cemetery and two fountains. The library, public fountain, and the mosque cemetery are preserved. The courtyard, the elegant marble fountain on the right of the portal and the comparatively fine kiosk are the fabulous fragments of this complex. The library, public fountain, and the mosque cemetery are preserved. Apart from the inscription of the fountain, according to the renovation on the ornamental slab of the fountain dated at 1863-1864, it was renovated from the spring by Tiryal Hanım, the third wife to Sultan Mahmut II. The same date the mosque was renovated by Tiryal Hanım also.

One classroom of the L shaped madrasah consisting of 11 rooms is above the gate of the dervish lodge. According to records dated to 1918, soldiers and immigrants stayed in some of the rooms of the madrasah. The madrasah’s rooms were used as a hospice by the Red Crescent (Kızılay) in 1945. Today, they are used as the office of the Üsküdar Mufti. Today, some part of the medrese is used as a Qur'an learning centre and the other part is used a a soup kitchen for the poor.

A notice indicates the Ahmediye mosque was built for Maktul Ibrahim Paşa (Grand Vizier of Sultan Süleyman) for the first time. It was built in the middle of the lodges for the Janissaries. For this reason it was also called the Orta Mosque (Middle mosque). After a Ahmet Fevzii Paşa quelled a riot of the Janissaries the mosque was often called Ahmediye. The building was ruined over time, and rebuilt in an octagonal shape in 1912. A fountain in its front was built for Damat Ibrahim Paşa, the last vizier of Sultan Ahmet III. Dome, minbar, rostrum and mahfil are made of wood. Under the mosque there is a Byzantine cellar.

Ahmet Ağa, a prominent statesman who built countless fountains throughout İstanbul, the fountain is entirely made out of marble. Its very top, referred to as the crown, features rumî motifs while its outer border is made of a repeating pattern of flowers and the inner border of stylized tulips. Underneath the crown are four couplets written in Ottoman Turkish, and an additional couplet underneath them whose second half carries the tarih, the date in which this fountain was built.

Ta'liq script was used, as was usually the case when writing poetry. The letters are illuminated with gold leaf on a green background. Ahmediye Cami, added to the Üsküdar landscape during the reign of Sultan Ahmed III when it was built in 1722 for Eminzade Hacı Ahmed Paşa. The mosque itself is not especially dramatic architecturally but there is a fine sebil (water dispensary) attached to the wall outside, and the medrese and kütüphane still survive overlooking a garden courtyard.

Situated at the corner which both streets intersect, the mosque is in square form and built by unhewn stones; the minaret on the left is put up with hewn stones. The layout is rectangular and the interior was embellished with calligraphic script.  The dome of the portico is a diognal vault, and the marble mihrab and the capitals of the columns look like a ladder upwards (mukarnas) and downwards.

The wooden exterior praying ground, which is said to have been built in 1931, was removed and hasn't been renovated since then. The exterior praying ground on the left of the portal has a mihrab. On the inscription with five calligraphic lines of the year 1722, the fact that Kepçe Hoca Mescid reduced into ruins and Hacı Ahmet Ağa built this mosque in the place is written.

The other inscriptions of the mosque complex are written in "ta'lik" (a form of Arabic writing). The dome of the mosque rests on sliced squinches, each side of the octogonal frame has a window. The mihrab is a simple niche made of plaster. the marble minber is small but is a fine work of its age.

The mosque has seven windows downstairs and eight windows upstairs. The upper window on the left of the gate is also considered to be a gate to the screened-off place from the exterior praying ground.

Roughly square in layout, it has the porticoes and cells of the medrese along two sides; the library, one entrance portal, and the mosque occupy a third side, while the fourth has the main gate complex with the dershane above and a graveyard alongside; but the whole plan is very irregular because of the alignment of streets and the rising ground.

The Madrasah placed in the courtyard of Ahmediye Mosque was built between 1721 and 1722 by Eminzade Ahmet Ağa. Religious sciences; fiqh, hadith, Koran commenting, feraiz (law of inheritance) has been taught in its classroom. There is a Turkish bath adjacent to it. It's been used as a soup kitchen for a while after Republic.

At the entrance, the medrese situated on the left of the mosque's portal has two sides and eleven rooms. In front of the rooms, a doomed and round gallery is present. Each room owns a dome, two windows opening to the gallery and the courtyard, a cabinet and a cooker. At the back of the medrese, there is a toilet and there are also nine faucets for ablution on the left of the entrance.

The building of the library whose front is covered with three galleries and a dome is situated near the second door of the mosque complex in Esvapçı Street. The capitals of the columns are rhomboid. The building has eight windows below, six windows above, a cooker and two cabinets. A toilet opening to the gallery is also available. Today a public toilet is still in use under the building.

At the end of Gündoğumu Street, in a close distance to the corner, there is another unadorned fountain without an inscription. It is said that the small section on the left of the fountain is the timekeeper's clock room.

There is covered tomb of the person that had built the mosque and the complex, Kefçe Dede's open tomb and graveyard in the courtyard of the Madrasah. The cemetry in which the gravestone of Eminzade Ahmet Ağa (1730-1731) and the tomb of Kepçe Dede is located in the northern part of the mosque.

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TOMTOM SUITES

Galata, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'48.5"N 28°58'39.8"E / 41.030146, 28.977714



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OLD FRANCISCAN HOUSE

The building seen today was built in 1901 as the Soeurs Garde-Malades Apartment, where there had once been an outbuilding of the French Palace, reserved for the Franciscan nuns. After the years of occupancy, following the departure of the Levantines and Greek families, who used to be the residents of the apartment until the end of the 1920s, the structure faced destruction for many years to come, due to changing hands and neglect.

Tomtom Suites is an authentic Istanbul building whose posture reflects the social history of Pera from the 1850s to recent. Throughout history, this building was home for French nuns and some well-known Levantine families.

TOMTOM SUITES

Appartement des Soeurs Gardes Malades. Tomtom Suites is located at Galata, the area which best represents the multi-cultural identity of Istanbul, one of the world’s biggest and most energetic metropol. Tomtom Suites is an oasis where elegance mixes with tranquility and history meets the 21st century. A witness to the last century of the Ottoman Empire’s capital city, Tomtom Suites’ story goes back to the 1850s.

When the neighborhood went through a major renovation at the beginning of the 2000s and thus became the city's cultural, artistic, entertainment and gourmet center. The building, as a result of the careful restoration faithful to its authenticity, obtained its fascinating appearance. Tomtom Suites opens its doors on a silent street of the city's most appealing area, and is more of a life style than a hotel.

Tomtom District is one of the most authentic spots of the old city, Beyoğlu; in walking distance to İstiklal Avenue. İstiklal Street has created countless fans with its monumental buildings, arcades, theaters, galleries and shops. Despite its central location and convenient accessibility, Tomtom Gardens still preserves its self-contained, calm and peaceful atmosphere due to the consulates, schools and gardens in the area.

Tomtom Gardens is comprised of 8 buildings, surrounding two courtyards. It is a mixed-use development project consisting of residential units, offices, art galleries, retail units. Tomtom Gardens is a “prime real estate” renovation project.

The first phase of Tomtom Gardens consists of three buildings, two of which are historical. These three buildings are surrounding a 450 sqm courtyard in the middle. This courtyard designed with inspiration by an Italian landscape architecture will be exclusive for use by Tomtom Gardens residents.

SUITES
4 Standard, 5 Classic, 5 Deluxe, 5 Superior and 1 Luxury Suite of Tomtom Suites are all designed as spacious living and working environments. Every suite is furnished with custom made furniture and the architectural features of the building are preserved through high ceilings and solid wooden floors. The soft and natural colors that identify contemporary design are enriched with modern and traditional works of art such as prints, paintings, handmade rugs and ceramics which project each room’s unique character.

TASTE
Restaurant

Contemporary mediterranean cuisine served at a chic terrace with a magnificent view of the Old Town, Prince Islands and beyond.

To make your special moments memorable, or to make a good impact on your clients with a business dinner, Nicole Restaurant’s terrace offers a perfect setting.

The Art of Dining and Wine, La Mouette, Bistro

MEETING ROOMS

LIBRARY
The library located at the ground floor of Tomtom Suites has a collection that will please those who wish to grasp the mysteries of Istanbul. The books about the city's historical and cultural legacy, tourist attractions, as well as a variety of books on Turkish traditional arts await the book lovers in a calm and relaxing environment. With the addition of computer access, a comprehensive multilingual DVD archive and a fine selection of classical music and jazz CDs, this delightful library may be the starting point of your journey.

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WEB SITE : Tomtom Suites

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : info@tomtomsuites.com
Phone : +90 212 292 4949

These scripts and photographs are registered under © Copyright 2018, respected writers and photographers from the internet. All Rights Reserved.

TOPKAPI PALACE MUSEUM / LIBRARY

Sultanahmet, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'47.2"N 28°59'02.9"E / 41.013105, 28.984139

Third Courtyard

MOSQUE OF THE AGAS



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The Mosque of the Ağas (Ağalar Camii) is the largest mosque in the palace. It is also one of the oldest constructions, dating from the 15th century during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II. The Sultan, the ağas and pages would come here to pray. The mosque is aligned in a diagonal line in the courtyard to make the minbar face Mecca. In 1928 the books of the Enderûn Library, among other works, were moved here as the Palace Library (Sarayı Kütüphanesi), housing a collection of about 13,500 Turkish, Arabic, Persian and Greek books and manuscripts, collected by the Ottomans. Located next to the mosque to the northeast is the Imperial Portraits Collection.

The Sultan, the squires and pages would come here to pray. The mosque is aligned in a diagonal line in the courtyard to make the minber  face Mecca.  It is situated adjacent to the Privy Chamber on the Golden Horn side of the Enderûn Courtyard. Its large central section was covered with a large barrel vault in the 18th Century. There are two narrow lateral spaces on each of the two sides.

There is a separate mihrab (altar) in the section facing the Privy Chamber. The second lateral section facing the other side is reserved for the squires from the Dormitory of the Expeditionary Force and the Pantry and Treasury Wards to perform their prayers. Three windows in the rear of the large section open up to the Harem masjid where Sultans as well as the Sultanas (Mothers of the reigning Sultans) and the Sultans’ wives used to fulfill their religious prayers.

The walls of the Mosque of the Ağas are covered with 17th Century tiles. The most interesting examples are the stacks with the Arabic letter vav, bearing the signature of the Archer Mustafa. This is a space reserved for the prayers of high-level squires. The most significant restoration carried out in previous centuries, of this stone and brick masonry building was the renovation by Es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa of the adjacent small mosque, according to a door inscription in the interior.

The tile epigraph on the inside of the door refers to the date of 1136 A.H. (1722 Gregorian) and to the name of “Es-Seyyid Mehmed Ağa”.  The building used as a warehouse from 1881 onwards was restored in 1916.  The newer inscription by Kâmil Akdik dated 1928 indicates that following a further restoration of the Mosque of the Ağas in 1925, the books from the Sultan Ahmet III (Enderûn) Library and other libraries in the Palace were all moved here so that all the libraries in the Palace were unified under the name of New Library or Palace Library.

BOOKS, MAPS AND CALLIGRAPHIC DOCUMENTS

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The Topkapı Scroll
The Topkapı Scroll, the best preserved example of its kind, contains far-reaching implications for the theory and praxis of geometric design in Islamic architecture and ornament. Created by master builders in the late medieval Iranian world, the scroll compiles a rich repertory of geometric drawings for wall surfaces and vaults. This important document belongs to a once-widespread Islamic tradition of scrolls in which geometric patterns ranging from ground plans and vault projections to epigraphic panels and architectural ornament in diverse media appeared side by side.

The Koran Collection At The Topkapı Palace Library
When the Topkapı Palace, the home of the Ottoman sultans and the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire for four hundred years, was turned into a museum in 1924, the manuscripts, found in many pavilions and rooms, were gathered together to form the New Library. Today, the Islamic manuscripts preserved in this new library have been sorted out into categories of Arabic, Farsi and Turkish.

A complete catalogue was compiled and published by F.E. Karatay in 1960. The first of the Arabic catalogues contains Korans and works of Koranic commentary. These Korans and Commentaries, which have been gathered from the various pavilions, buildings and rooms of the Palace and are classified by the name of the location where they were found, number more than two thousand.

The collection of Korans, the richest to be found anywhere in the world, comprises texts of the Koran inscribed during the 7th - 19th centuries in Arabia, India, Maghrib (North Africa) and the lands dominated by the Seljuks and Ottomans. Almost all have been prepared by famous calligraphers, gilded by master gilders, and bound by the most capable bookbinders of the times. The 1600 or more Korans found in the first volume of the Arabic catalogue are preserved in the Palace Library as rare books.

Among these are seven believed to be inscribed by khaliph Osman (RA), nine accredited to khaliph Ali (RA), two ascribed to Hasan and Hussein (RA) as well as many translations. There are twenty-one Turkish translations, thirty-nine Farsi translations, twenty-one Chagatay translations and one Uygur translation.

The first Korans were written on parchment in the 7th - 8th centuries in a monumental type of script called kufic. This script, whose name is derived from Kufa, an early Islamic center, is a style of Arabic script closest to pictorial design. Kufic script, most characterised with its horizontal and vertical lines, showed regional peculiarities in the 9th century. The kufic script of Iran differed from the kufic of the regions of Baghdad and North Africa. The script used in Baghdad and North Africa was more dynamic and of slighter dimension.

The first Korans written in kufic script, besides the one believed to have been recited by khaliph Osman (RA) at the moment of his death, are the Korans written in vertical form. In addition to those written on parchment, there are those of the 9th -11th centuries inscribed on thick dark paper with sepia ink using delicate kufic lines. Also in the Palace collection are Korans prepared in North African cities such as Ceuta and Marrakech between the 12th and 16th centuries.

These are written on parchment on thick dark paper in Maghribi kufic with gilded frontispiece, illuminated surah headings, surah titles, marginal rosettes and sajdah marks. Kufic script was used in copying the text of the Koran until the middle of the tenth century. Examples of eastern Iranian kufic continued to be seen until the twelfth century. From the eleventh century onwards, a more rounded type of script was used in the writing of the Koranic text. The main type of script characterising this new tendency was naskhi, a style completely opposite in appearance to kufic.

This script began to be characterised in the first ten years of the tenth century when a calligrapher named Ibn al-Muqla used the length of the letter alif as a proportional guide At the beginning of the eleventh century another calligrapher named Ibn al-Bawwab created a freer naskhi.

After Ibn al-Bawwab, Yakut al-Mustasimi, a Turk from Amasya living in the Abbasid Baghdad of the thirteenth century, specified the rules for six different scripts in the art of calligraphy. The scribes trained by Yakut spread his style in Koranic script to all Islamic countries. The scripts he used in the main text were naskhi, muhaqqaq, rayhani. In the surah titles and other additions tawqi, riga, thuluth and kufic were used.

In the second half of the thirteenth century Korans written in rayhani script begin to appear. All these resemble naskhi of Yakut al-Mustasimi (d.1298) Although both small and large styles of rayhani were used in Iranian Korans until the late fourteenth century, this style was rare in the Mameluke Korans. Besides naskhi and rayhani scripts, the more majestic thuluth and muhaqqaq scripts were the styles to gain more popularity and appear more frequently in the Korans that have come down to us from the twelfth century.

Examples where muhaqqaq script is used in combination with rayhani appear in Iran at the end of that century. Although the technique was used in both Iran and Turkey, it was not preferred by the Arabic speaking countries.

At the beginning of the fourteenth century the only script to be used in copying the Koranic text in the Islamic world was muhaqqaq. In the Egypt of the Mamelukes, however, this type of script made its appearance only in the second half of the same century. Gilders were as important as calligraphers in Koranic manuscripts. Throughout the 19th - 14th centuries the gilders decorating the Korans of the Abbasid, Fatimi, Eyyubi, Muvahhid, Mameluke, Seljuk and llhanic periods created colourful gilt arrangements using a variety of motifs.

The large Korans of the Mameluke and Ilhanic periods, with their impressive gilt compositions, made the Koran the most magnificent work of art in the Islamic world. The tradition of gilt designs in Koranic inscription appears to have been established in the eleventh century. The most common tradition of gilt design in the Korans of the 11th -14th centuries was the complete decoration of a designated square or rectangular area on the first page of the text. The gilding of the border around the text of the first two surahs (Al-Fatiha and Al-Bakara) appeared in the fourteenth century.

The Koran of the eleventh century written by Abul Kasım Ali b.Abdullah b.al-hussein al-Baghdadi, vizier to the Seljuk sultan Tuğrul Bey, and preserved in the Palace Library today, is an important example of the period's Koranic gilding with its frontispiece, illuminated surah heading, surah titles and marks in the gilt style of the Seljuks. The works of the 13th century master of the naskhi style, Yakut al-Mustasimi, are just as valuable.

It has been discovered that the Korans and Koranic sections written by Yakut al-Mustasimi and the 14th century naskhi masters Abdullah Sayrafi and Argun Kamili were restored and carefully gilded in the time of the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman in the 16th century. The "Al-An'am" surah in thuluth and rayhani script of Argun Kamili of Baghdad, the gilt Koran in rayhani script of Muhammed b.Sayfeddin al-Nakkash are distinguishable for their rich and colourful design.

The 15th section of the Koran written on thick paper in gold muhaqqaq script in Mosul during the era of the Ilhanic ruler Sultan Olcaytu is another important development in Korinic calligraphy. In the fourteenth century the Ilhanic and Mameluke ateliers were the most productive in the Islamic world. The most distinctive examples of Mameluke Korans were prepared in 1256-1399. While bight colored gilt Ilhanic Korans were being produced at the beginning of the fourteenth century, the transition to colourful design in the Egypt of the Mamelukes and in Syria came later towards the middle of the same century.

The Mameluke Korans preserved in the Palace Library are part of this development. In the same way, the Timuri Koran written at the end of the 15th century by Muhammed b. Sultanshah al-Haravi of Heart and the Turkmen Koran written in the fifteenth century at Tabriz are significant for an understanding of how Koranic design developed a rich and colourful set of motifs.

Some valuable Korans in the Palace Library were inscribed under the Safevids in Iran in the 16th century. They are important for their design and gilding as an example of the development of the Safevid Koranic style and the elaborateness of motif. Particularly Koran numbered H.S.25, with its pages of dynamic taliq script, is a magnificent work of the famous calligrapher Shah Mahmud Nishapuri.

Undoubtedly the best examples reflecting the development of gilding and calligraphy in the Ottoman Korans are preserved in the Palace Library. The fundamentals of Ottoman Koranic script were set down in the Korans produced in naskhi by the famous calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. Koranic gilding developed in those years as well. The Sheikh Korans in the Palace Library are all matchless examples of the gilding style of the period.

The Koran written in naskhi script by Abdullah b. Ilias and gilded by Bayram b. Dervish, the Koran written in a combination of naskhi-thuluth script by Ahmet Karahisari and gilded in the style of the gilder Karamemi are both important works reflecting the stages of Ottoman Koranic writing in the sixteenth century. The large Koran attributed to Ahmed Karahisari is a magnificent manuscript incorporating rich motifs of gilt. This work, a major masterpiece of Ottoman book design, is one of the most valuable manuscripts in the Palace Library.

Some selected Korans produced by the well-known Ottoman calligraphers of later centuries are precious additions to the Library's unique collection. The calligraphers and artists of the nine-tenth and early twentieth centuries experimented with different script styles such as thluth and taliq and preferred to produce decorative wall inscriptions. The Ottoman art of hand-copying Koranic text eventually adopted a rococo style and then exhibited neoclassic gilding patterns. The Library Collections is abundant with examples of these as well.

This magnificent assembly of work was accumulated through the individual collections of the Ottoman Sultans for hundreds of years. The multitude of samples of kufic and maghribi kufic script, the works of the well-known Islamic calligraphers Yakut, Abdullah Sayrafi and Argun Kamili, the exquisite Safevid Korans together form a precious legacy.

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WEB SITE : Topkapı Palace Museum Directorate

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : topkapisarayimuzesi@kultur.gov.tr
Phone : +90 212 512 0480
Fax : +90 212 526 9840

These scripts and photographs are registered under © Copyright 2017, respected writers and photographers from the internet. All Rights Reserved.