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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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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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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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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KILIÇ ALİ PAŞA MOSQUE

Tophane Square - Istanbul - Turkey

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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SULTAN AHMET MOSQUE (THE BLUE MOSQUE)

Sultanahmet - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'20.0"N 28°58'36.0"E / 41.005556, 28.976667



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 1

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Work on the Complex of Ahmed I (1603-1617) began in August 1609 (1108 AH). The southern part of the ancient Hippodrome or Atmeydani (today's Sultanahmet Square) was cleared of residential palaces belonging to members of the aristocracy and a large portion of the Byzantine sphendone (the semi-circular end of the hippodrome) was taken down to make space for the mosque. Construction on the mosque finished in 1617 just before the sultan's death and work on the complex (külliye) continued for three years under his sons Mustafa I (1617-1618) and Osman II (1618-1622), who also built a mausoleum for their father and predecessor.

For a variety of reasons including the terrain of the site, master architect Sedefkar Mehmet Aga organized the complex's buildings in functional groups in the vicinity of the mosque rather than arrange them symmetrically around the mosque as was done in its precedents at Fatih and Süleymaniye.

The complex is composed of a mosque, royal pavilion (hünkar kasri), mausoleum (türbe), madrasa (medrese), school for koran readers (dar'ül kurra), Koranic school for boys (mekteb), hospice (tabhane), hospital (darüssifa), soup kitchen (imaret), an open air market street (arasta), rental rooms (kira odalari) and mansions (konak), cisterns (mahzen) and public fountains (sebil). The complex buildings conform to the orientation of the mosque, 39 degrees east of south.

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) is the only one which has 6 minarets among mosques in Istanbul. The four minarets with three sherefes each (minaret balcony) were erected at the four corners of the mosque, and the remaining two short minarets with two sherefes each were erected opposite at two corners of the courtyard. The central dome, placed on four piers, is 33.6 meters in diameter and 43 meters high at its central point.  It is supported by four semi-domes. The ceiling structure of the Blue mosque is similar to the Şehzadebaşı (Prince) Mosque.

The interior of the mosque, which is 64 x 72 m, is lighted with 260 windows. The outer courtyard, encircled with windowed walls, has eight doors on both sides and in front. The inner courtyard with marble floor coverings is enclosed with 30 domes. The tulip and carnations motifs of the fountain with six columns in the inner courtyard is eye-catching. It is entered by the inner court with three doors.

Those three doors and the main door of the outer court are made of bronze.  On the pulpit of the mosque with nacre-inlay, the embroidered muezzin mahfil (a gallery/platform for the call to prayer) and the niche were worked with the architectural details. In addition, it has artistic value with carpets, kilims, rahles (reading desks), engravings, and colourful stained-glass windows.

The Sultanahmet Mosque has the unusual feature of having six minarets, four of which rise from the corners mosque and two lower minarets placed at the front corners of the courtyard. The four around the mosque have three balconies each, while the courtyard minarets are furnished with two. All six minarets have fluted shafts and balconies with stalactite corbels. The northeastern minaret was restored in 1955.

The mosque, named after its donor Sultan Ahmed I, has been donned the name "Blue" by foreign travelers based on the Kütahya tiles in dominant tones of blue, turquoise and green that cover most of its interior. The interior galleries have displays of tiles composed in panels at the balcony level depicting gardens with cypresses, flowers and fruit trees, but the most precious tiles have been used to decorate the royal lodge, which has notable jade and gilt work in its marble mihrab niche.

Similar motifs, painted in gold and corresponding colors, adorn the multiple convex facets of the elephant feet above their marble bases, two of which are furnished with fountains. This rich polychrome complexion of the interior comes alive with sublime light flooding the interior from three tiers of windows on the walls and numerous others pierced into the domes: The central dome has twenty-eight windows in its drum and each of the four semi-domes has fourteen. Colored glasses on windows were originally imported from Venice, but have since been replaced with modern substitutes.

The preacher's pulpit, doors and window shutters display mastery of woodcarving and mother of pearl inlay of the period. The mosque holds many treasures, such as Quranic tablets from the hand of the renowned Ameti Kasim Gubari, while many others have been lost or placed in museums. The interior has been renovated several times, as early as 1837, and also more recently.

The walled mosque precinct, enclosing the mosque and the royal pavilion, occupies the peak of a hill alongside the Atmeydani to the northwest. Terraces descend down to the Bosphorus on the southeast side of the precinct wall. In 1912, a fire leveled the Ishakpasa (today's Küçükayasofya) neighborhood down the hill from the mosque, allowing archaeologists to reveal the remains of the Great Palace of Emperors (Büyük Saray) that was inhabited between the 4th and the 12th centuries. The mosque and market streets that run along its precinct wall to the southeast were built over the undercrofts of this palace.

Further excavations in the market street and vicinity in 1935-1938, 1951-1954 and from 1983 to our day have unearthed 6th century palace floor mosaics that are on display at the Great Palace Mosaic Museum that occupies part of the rebuilt market street. Nothing remains of the rental rooms that were located above the stores here and others that were distributed among the buildings of the complex. The hamam of the market street, located at its southwest end, remains in disrepair.

On the north corner of the precinct, the madrasa (school for Koran readers) and the mausoleum form an enclosed cluster. These buildings were built on the cisterns of the 4th century Byzantine Sphendone, which was already in disuse by the early 13th century. The soup kitchen, hospital, and hospice form a second cluster that was built on top of the sphendone after the Hippodrome was filled with earth from the mosque's excavation. Only sections of the soup kitchen remain at this location today where an industrial school complex (mekteb-i sanayi) was built in the 19th century.

The qibla wall of the Sultan Ahmed I mosque doubles as a retaining wall to the southeast where there is a partial basement (mahzen) under the walled qibla garden; it is first in a series of terraces that were built downhill from the mosque. From here, two gated passages lead down to the level of rental housing that sits above market stores, culminating at portals on the market street and Tavukhane Street. An intermediate layer contains seven more rental rooms and a public fountain. The qibla wall has been differentiated in its design from the other walls to accommodate its special function.

Where the peripheral extensions on three sides are covered with three semi-domes, the qibla recess is composed with two semi-domes on the sides, joining a straight wall in between, where the tall marble frame of the mihrab niche is positioned at the center. The piers supporting the structure, which project freely into the mosque interior on three sides, have been restrained along the qibla wall, resulting in a flatter but more subtly varied surface. A slender marble minbar rises along the pilaster to the right of the mihrab, and is crowned with a golden crescent above its conical cap.

The arasta or market street of Sultanahmet was to provide income for the mosque and its dependencies. It is the only example of its kind to have remained from the 17th century. It is composed of two facing rows of stores running northeast and southwest, with over thirty stores in each row. There is a portal at the northeast end through which a passage leads up to the qibla garden of the mosque, and a single row of nine stores beyond it that used to be double-story rental rooms. An additional five stores are located around the corner at the southwest end on Tavukhane Street, where the market baths (arasta hamami) are located.

There are two adjacent portals here, one of which may have belonged to a rental mansion; the other marks the location of the vaulted passage that leads up to the qibla garden. Since the market street was destroyed by fire in 1912 the area had been haphazardly rebuilt on multiple occasions up until the 1980s at which point the General Directorate of Foundations (Vakiflar Genel Müdürlügü) carried out a historical reconstruction of the stores. Traces of the domed rental rooms above stores were judged inadequate guides to a reconstruction, but were maintained as archaeological evidence. The Mosaic Museum, established in 1953 and re-opened as the Great Palace Mosaic Museum in 1997, occupies 16 rooms of the market street.

The madrasa, mausoleum and a funerary garden are accessed from a private lane that is entered from the mosque precinct. They are isolated from the outside by walls that closely follow the outline of the two buildings. The mausoleum, located on the north side of the lane, is a large square building set in a garden and entered from a three-bay domed portico to the northeast.

Elevated from the surrounding grounds, the mosque courtyard is entered through three portals with cascading steps. The main entrance is to the northwest in axis with the central gate on Sultanahmet Square. It is deep and has a stalactite semi-dome. Inside, a domed arcade frames the court on three sides and the mosque portico - with arches slightly wider and taller than those of the arcade - completes the gallery on the fourth side. The two side entrances are found on either end of the domed portico. At the center of the courtyard, in axis with the main entrance, is a hexagonal fountain. It is crowned by a pent roof raised on elaborately carved arches that spring from six marble columns; this roof has recently been replaced by a small dome.

The columns of the arcade and the portico are also carved from marble as well as porphyry, and the floor is paved with marble tiles. The courtyard has two rows of superimposed windows - rectangular below and arched above - that are placed at regular intervals on all three façades, which are topped with a marble balustrade. A double-story gallery runs along the court on the exterior, with ablution spigots provided at its basement level. This narrow gallery, which has a slanted roof at the level of the upper court windows, is continued at a grander scale and flanks the prayer hall on either side where it is roofed with domes and barrel vaults, interrupted only by the projecting piers.

The prayer hall's main entrance is from the courtyard and there are two secondary side entrances. The main entrance is highlighted by the raised central portico dome, which bears a marble Quranic panel on its tall drum. Set in a niche with a stalactite semi-dome, the entry has a triptych foundation plaque. The prayer hall is a rectangle, slightly wider than it is long. Inside, it is spacious and open, with a focus around the tall central dome. The dome sits on pendentives carried on four colossal piers or "elephant feet" that delineate the central court. Beyond the court, the space is extended by use of semi-domes and buttresses that transfer the lateral loads to piers set inside the walls.

The central dome is surrounded by four semi-domes below its drum, which are wrapped by smaller semi-domes - three on all sides except for the qibla wall. The semi-domes are braced with buttresses on either side that are articulated with hipped roofs and domed turrets. This structural arrangement provides for a spacious and open interior and creates an effect of cascading domes on the exterior. The composition ends at the four corners where small single domes complete the pyramidal succession.

The flow of space on the interior is uninterrupted except for a few functional elements. There is a muezzin's platform elevated on columns in front of the southern pier, which has geometric patterns carved in its marble balustrade. An elaborately decorated wooden pulpit is set adjacent to the opposite pier. The royal lodge (hünkar mahfili), a screened platform raised on arches carried on precious marble columns, is located behind this pier and occupies the bay underneath the eastern corner dome.

It is accessed from inside the mosque, as well as from the royal kiosk outside. An arcade, with balustrades at the balcony level, follows the entire length of the interior walls with the exception of the qibla wall. It is broken up into segments by the projecting structural piers and the supporting piers of the smaller semi-domes, which replace the arcade columns on their way down.

The small domed building behind the mausoleum is a dar'ül kurra, or a school for training Koran readers. It is built close to the mausoleum eyvan into which it opens with a large window. A room for the timekeeper of the mosque (muvakkithane) was added to the front of the mausoleum in the 18th or 19th century, replacing a sebil. There is a walled-in cemetery (hazire) between the dar'ül kurra and the mosque precinct. There were six adjoining stores on the Hippodrome side of the cemetery, which appear as two-story wooden buildings with domes in 19th century photographs.

The hospice (tabhane), soup kitchen (imaret), hospital (darüşşifa) were erected one behind the other over the sphendone (the semi-circular end of the hippodrome) to the southwest of the mosque. At this end, the hippodrome is a terrace supported by a deep circular wall of vaults and arches that retain the hill towards the Marmara Sea. The retaining wall has maintained its function and is still visible today.

The charity cluster of Sultan Ahmed I, however, was already in ruins by the time the School of Industry (Mekteb-i Sanayi) was erected at this location in 1866. Sections of the hospital, the soup kitchen and possibly a former Sword Factory (Kiliçhane) that had existed here in some form since Byzantine times, were incorporated into the campus. The buildings that occupy the site today are from 1894 and were built by Architect Raimondo D'Aronco after the original school collapsed in an earthquake.

Along with the School of Industry, three separate buildings originally housed the Janissary Museum (Yeniçeri Müzesi), the Ministry of Agriculture, Mining and Forestry (Ziraat, Maadin ve Orman Nezareti) and the School of Industry. The remains of the hospital and soup kitchen were restored and incorporated into the new development. Restored in 1977, the buildings are in use by the Registrar of Marmara University (Marmara Üniversitesi Rektörlüğü) and the Sultanahmet School of Industrial Arts (Sultanahmet Endüstri Meslek Lisesi).

Minarets
The Blue Mosque with all six minarets visibleThe Sultan Ahmed Mosque is one of the two mosques in Turkey that has six minarets, the other is in Adana. When the number of minarets was revealed, the Sultan was criticized for presumption, since this was, at the time, the same number as at the mosque of the Ka'aba in Mecca. He overcame this problem by paying for a seventh minaret at the Mecca mosque. Four minarets stand at the corners of the mosque. Each of these fluted, pencil-shaped minarets has three balconies (Şerefe) with stalactite corbels, while the two others at the end of the forecourt only have two balconies.

Until recently the muezzin or prayer-caller had to climb a narrow spiral staircase five times a day to announce the call to prayer. Today a public address system is used, and the call can be heard across the old part of the city, echoed by other mosques in the vicinity. Large crowds of both Turks and tourists gather at sunset in the park facing the mosque to hear the call to evening prayers, as the sun sets and the mosque is brilliantly illuminated by coloured floodlights.

Hünkar Kasrı
There is a royal kiosk (hünkar kasri) to the southeast of the mosque, which was rebuilt recently following destruction by fire. It features, for the first time in Ottoman architecture, the entry ramp, which allowed the sultan to enter the lodge mounted on his horse. The ramp leads up to a loggia with a view over the Bosphorus, with two retiring rooms on one side and a connection to the royal lodge inside the mosque on the other. Today, the royal kiosk is home to the Carpet and Kilim Museum (Hali ve Kilim Müzesi) that displays historic samples from mosques around Anatolia.

Madrasa (School)
The madrasa stands on the opposite side of the lane from the mausoleum and the walled-in cemetery. It is composed of twenty-four rooms around a rectangular arcaded courtyard with a fountain at the center. The main entrance, in axis with the fountain, is located at the center of the northwestern wing. Traces of columns around the fountain suggest that it may have been roofed. The madrasa rooms have windows opening to the courtyard and the exterior and are equipped with fireplaces (ocak) and shelving niches.

The main classroom (dersane) is atypically annexed at the northern corner of the cloister rather than on its longitudinal axis. Madrasa functions were discontinued with the education reform law (Tevhid-i Tedrisat Kanunu) in 1924. The building was restored in 1935 and the courtyard was covered with a glass roof to prepare for its new use as an archive for the Directorate of Public Affairs.

Hospital
The hospital of the Sultanahmet Complex is often identified as an insane asylum (timarhane) and was probably dedicated to that purpose. Located at the western end of its cluster closest to the circular retaining wall, the hospital consisted of rooms around an arcaded courtyard and adjoining baths (darüssifa hamami). Its rooms and portico had collapsed prior to the construction of the School of Industry but its external walls and main portal, which faced northeast, have been preserved. Certain columns and capitals belonging to its portico have been used at the entrance of the school building.

Kitchen
There are three separate structures of the soup kitchen that are identifiable upon entering the School of Industrial Arts from Sokollu Mehmet Pasa Highway. The kitchens (matbah or mutfak) have been preserved entirely whereas the bakery (firin) and the cellar (kiler) have been modified. The kitchens were entered from northeast and southwest and had a vaulted storage room and a chimney. Their twin domes had ventilation slits along the drum and oculi with glass lantern for further aeration.

The bakery, which opens to the southwest towards the kitchen, is a square building with four domes. Its ovens have been enclosed and only one of its chimneys remains. The cellar is the largest structure in the soup kitchen and is located to the west towards the hospital. There is no trace of the dining hall (mekel or yemekhane).

The Koranic school and other buildings
The Koranic school, a single room raised on a vaulted basement, is attached to the northeast wall of the outer courtyard next to a gate. It has a fireplace, shelving niches and a small toilet. It has a flat roof but may have been covered with a dome prior to rebuilding after the 1912 fire. The northeast façade has some of the original stone paneling.

Turkish Bath (Hamam)
The baths were also damaged in the fire of 1912, at which time the changing room collapsed. It was spared from destruction during the Great Palace Excavation and remains in ruinous condition. It has a changing room leading into an L-shaped warm room (iliklik) that wraps around the hot room, and a furnace (külhan) that supplied the hot water. The hot room can be entered from either wing of the warm room and consists of a hexagonal bathing area at the center surrounded by private bathing cells (halvet) that square off the room. It has lost its dome and marble fixtures.

Tomb
The tomb of Sultan Ahmet I the türbe (tomb) of the Blue Mosque’s great patron, is on the north side of the mosque facing Sultanahmet Park. Ahmet, who had ascended to the imperial throne aged 13, died one year after the mosque was constructed, aged only 27. Buried with Ahmet are his wife, Kösem, who was strangled to death in the Topkapı Harem, and his sons, Sultan Osman II (r 1618-22), Sultan Murat IV (r 1623-40) and Prince Beyazıt (murdered by Murat).

The tomb is decorated with 7th century Iznik tiles and plaster work in a square plan. The tomb of Sultan Ahmed I commenced by Sultan Mustafa I and was finished by Sultan Osman II (Osman the Young) It took 3 years and was completed in the year 1619. The architect was Sedefkar Mehmed Ağa who had also built the Sultanahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) complex. This hall is extended with an eyvan opposite the entry. The interior is decorated with Kütahya tiles, penwork (kalemisi) and painting on plasterwork (malakari) that was restored in the 19th century. The exterior is paneled with marble.

The tomb of Sultan Ahmet I is located to the north of Sultanahmet Mosque (Known as Blue Mosque). Ahmet I was born in 1590 and became sultan when he was only 14. He was the one who rejected and stopped the tradition of killing siblings for the unity of the country which started with Beyezid and even became a law during the time of Fatih. He also commanded that the throne should be ascended by the eldest one in the dynasty. In 1617 Sultan Ahmed I died and was buried in his tomb.

Sultan Ahmet Tomb has a square plan and is covered with a dome that is supported by a polygon drum. The arcade after the entrance is covered with three domes. The inside of the tomb is decorated with rich tiles, pen and wood crafts. Above the tile panels, there is an epigraph surrounding the structure written with white calligraphy over dark blue background. In the tomb, also buried Kösem Sultan (Mahpeyker Sultan, wife of Sultan Ahmed I), their sons Sultan Murad IV and Sultan Osman II, their daughter Ayşe Sultan in addition to about forty other members of the dynasty .

Cemetery
Located on the north west corner of the of Sultan Ahmed Mosque (The Blue Mosque) complex.

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NUSRETİYE MOSQUE

Tophane, Beyoğlu - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'39.0"N 28°58'59.0"E / 41.027500, 28.983056



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Nusretiye Mosque is an ornate mosque located in Tophane district of Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey. While its architecture is influenced by Islamic elements, it retains a Baroque style, making it unique to the city. The Nusretiye Mosque was erected between 1823 and 1826 by Sultan Mahmud II (1784-1839) as part of a larger project to rebuild the Tophane artillery barracks that burnt in the Firuzağa fire.

It is located off the Western shore of the Bosphorus, below Tophane or the Canon Foundry established by Sultan Mehmed II (1432-1481) and was built on the former site of the Mosque of the Artillery Barracks (Tophane-i Amire Arabacılar Kışlası Camii) built by Sultan  Selim III (1789-1807).

In style, the mosque signifies a transition from Ottoman baroque to empire style. Its architect is Krikor Balyan (1764-1831), who is the first in nine architects belonging to the Armenian Balyan family who served the royal family throughout the nineteenth century. The mosque was named Nusretiye or Victory, in celebration of the sultan's recent abolition of the rebellious janissary troops in favor of a new western-style army - an event known in Ottoman history as Vaka-i Hayriye or the auspicious event.

When it was built, the Nusretiye mosque stood to the northeast of a rectangular parade ground facing the Bosphorus with the Meclis-i Mebusan or Parliament Street at its back. The artillery barracks, built by Sultan Mahmud II at the same time as the mosque, bound the southwest side of the parade ground. His successor, Sultan Abdülmecid I (1839-1861), added a clock tower (Tophane saat kulesi) at the center of the grounds and built the royal Tophane kiosk (Tophane Kasri) at the street end of the longitudinal axis.

In 1866, the neo-classical strip housing the offices of the marshals was built on the other side of Meclis-i Mebusan Street from the Tophane kiosk and the fenced parade ground, completing the monumental appearance of the military complex seen in older photographs. Only the mosque, the clock tower and the Tophane kiosk have survived the mid 1950s urban renewal and highway construction programs.

The parade ground was developed into a trade entrepôt with concrete warehouses extending into newly infilled grounds behind the mosque. The mosque stands today on Necati Bey Street, having lost its historical context and connection with the water. It was restored between 1955 and 1958, and again in 1980 and 1992.

The mosque stands raised on a tall basement, oriented along the northwest-southeast axis. It consists of a square prayer hall with narthex and mihrab apse, and a large sultan's kiosk, which wraps the west and north corners at the front, on either side of the tall portico. Side arcades made of five domed bays flank the prayer hall on the exterior. Although the mosque lacks a monumental courtyard, a prominent feature in classical Ottoman mosques, it has a small side courtyard that adjoins the prayer hall to the northeast.

The side arcade on this side is a few steps below the courtyard whereas to the southwest the arcade has two-stories and has a door at the lower colonnade that leads down to the basement level. The mosque portal is located at the center of the three-bay portico, a monumental baroque entrance with two staircases leading up to its terrace. The staircases are framed on either side by the projecting bays of the sultan's kiosk, which is raised to the height of the portico domes carried on arches and columns, forming open terraces below.

The residential-looking sultan's kiosk dominates the front façade of the mosque and zigzags around the corners where the minarets are attached to form wings projecting outwards into the parade ground and the side courtyard. It is entered primarily from a baroque portal adjoining the side arcade on the southwest façade; there are secondary entrances on either side of the portico.

Inside, the prayer hall is crowned with a single dome, raised on four grand arches that spring from the four corners. The narthex to the northwest has women's prayer section flanking the entrance and the muezzin's platform at the gallery level. The grand arch above the narthex is carried on two piers and three arches, the larger central arch mirrors the arch of the mihrab semi-dome across the hall.

Along the southwest wall, to the right, is the sultan's lodge - a balcony with gilt screens entered from the sultan's kiosk. Windows pierced into the tympana of the grand arches and twenty windows around the dome illuminate the interior from above. Of the two tiers of windows at the ground level, the lower casements are crowned with baroque vases carved in the marble tympana of the window arches.

All of the upper windows have faux frames painted in the baroque style. The mihrab and minbar are carved of white marble and decorated with flowers and gilt garlands. Perhaps the most important decorative element on the interior is a calligraphic band inscribed with the Koranic sura of The Event or Al-Naba, which travels the interior located above the casement windows. It is written in gold celi style letters over a dark background by the famous calligrapher Mustafa Rakım (1757-1826).

There is obtrusive structure on both sides of the entrance of the mosque called the Hünkar Kasrı (royal residence). It is situated on marble columns with a round arch. It also has an entrance from its rooms to the last prayer section of the mosque and to the outer side porch. The Sultan's entrance is located on the southern facade with a view of the sea. Crowning the aesthetics of the building are the walls of the royal residence which are decorated with a colourful plant motif  as well as with calligraphy on its arched-door.

One enters into the harim (sanctum sanctorum) of the Nusretiye Mosque through a palatial baroque style door measuring 4 x 2.10 m. The harim is built on a square plan measuring 7.50 x 7.50 m and has a ceiling of 33 m covered with a pendant dome. There are windows decorated with calligraphy built into the tympana of the grand arches as well as twenty windows around the dome which illuminate the interior from above. The niche of the mihrab is plain when compared to the other elements of the mosque.

There are two windows on both sides of the niche of the mihrab, and the mihrab is covered with a half dome which, when viewed from the inside of the mosque, appears as a circle. Additionally, the Nusretiye Mosque showcases the last example of classical Ottoman window arrangement and architecture with its facade including four levels of window rows and marble wall panels ascending to the same level as the window gaps of the second row.

The mosque has two minarets located at the west and east corners. Raised on tall square foundations, the fluted minaret shafts have bulbous bases and double balconies with wavy balustrades. In order to create a view for passing ships to read the string of lights with devotional messages (mahya) hung between the two minarets without being obstructed by the dome, the minarets were taken down and rebuilt taller in 1826.

The Nusretiye Mosque, both with the site on which it was built and its architectural details, showcases an example of mosque architecture definitely worth seeing. To the northeast, the entrance to the small side courtyard is flanked by twin structures of the sabil (sebil), on the right, and the room of the timekeeper (muvakkithane), on the left.

The superstructure, including the dome, is marked with exuberant architectural decorations. Curved pilasters with finials alternate with the dome windows and large bulbous weight turrets with pointed domes that are placed at the springing of the grand arches, which are bordered with lace-like cornices. The mosque is constructed primarily of cut stone.

Positioned originally across the street, they were moved adjacent to the mosque during the rule of Sultan Abdülaziz I (1861-1879). They are round with arched grille windows facing the street and are crowned by conical domes with wavy eaves mirrored by wavy marble cornices with inscriptive plaques. A fountain kiosk erected beside the mosque by Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1901 has been moved to Maçka neighborhood as part of the urban renewal program.

The mosque was broadly restored between the years of 1955 and 1958,  and partially again between 1980 and 1992.

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MAHMUD PAŞA MOSQUE COMPLEX

Mahmutpaşa, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'41.0"N 28°58'17.0"E / 41.011389, 28.971389



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In the borough of Eminönü this complex is located on the north east side of Nuruosmaniye Complex and comprised of a mosque, tomb, hamam, a inn (commercial building generating income for the complex), a higher education school, soup kitchen and a school for young boys.

Today all that remains is the mosque, tomb, inn and hamam. This complex was the first ministrial complex and with the Fatih Complex is the most important group of buildings dating from 15th century. Construction was started in early 1460, the mosque being completed by 1462 and the other sections were completed by 1474. The complex was built by Arhitect Atik Sinan on the orders of the Prime Minister Mahmud Paşa.

Roofed by two big domes with three smaller ones surrounding them, the interior tiles with white calligraphy on a blue background were added at a later date. The pulpit and altar were made of carved marble and there are six carved stone columns supporting the five domes and smaller domes cover the surrounding corridors. Over the mihrap is an inscription with the date 868 (hegira calendar) pertaining to the date of the buildings completion. The surrounds of the gate are carved marble.

In 1766 the mosque was destroyed by an earthquake and was rebuilt in 1785. After the Great Fire of 1827 it was restored in 1829. Due to the repeated repairs much of the ornamentation is not original. The single balconied minaret built of cut-stone took it final shape after the 1936 restoration.

Mahmut Paşa's tomb is in the mosque garden and there is a fountain built by Mustafa Ağa in the courtyard. Mahmut Paşa Hamam and the Kürkçü Han (Furriers building) are İstanbul's oldest hamam and han, located to the north of the mosque. Of the school located to the east of the mosque there remains today only one classroom.

Mahmud Paşa (d. 1474), a devsirme from Serbia, was the grand-vizier of Mehmed II between 1453-66 and 1472-74 and is known also as a poet and a patron of the arts. The complex he built inside the city walls following the fall of Constantinople consists of a mosque, a madrasa (medrese), a han, public baths (hamam) and his mausoleum (türbe). The law court (mahkeme), Koranic school (sübyan mektebi) and the soup kitchen (imaret) are not extant. The madrasa of the complex has been ruined save its large classroom (dersane).

The mosque of the complex was completed in 1464 (869 A.H.) and thoroughly renovated during the rule of Sultan Osman III in 1753 (1169 A.H.) It has since been restored twice, in 1828 and 1936. It is composed of a two-unit prayer hall flanked by eyvans to the east and west and preceded by a vestibule and a portico to the north. The portico was altered in the 18th century when its six marble columns were encased in stone piers. Its five bays are covered by domes.

The mosque, which is considered to be the primary structure of the complex, was built to a great extent according to the first Ottoman Architectural style. A good example of early Ottoman architecture, the mosque measures 25.45 x 11.9 m and the central dome is 11 m in diameter. There are 18 domes, including the two domes covering the main space of the mosque.

The mosque, heavily damaged in a fire, was renovated by Sultan Osman III in 1755. The mosque, which was ruined during the earthquake of 1766, was restored in 1785. The mosque was opened for service in 1829 after the fire of 1827.

The interior decorations lost their features due to the repeated repairs and rebuilding in 1936. The altar and pulpit were renewed in the 18th century and the royal chamber was installed in 1828. The single balconied minaret built of cut-stone, took its current shape after the restoration in 1936. The fountain and sebil in the mosque’s courtyard were built between 1618 and 1622.

The mosque, which is considered to be the primary structure of the complex, was built to a great extent according to the first Ottoman Architectural style. The grand portal with inscriptions leads into a three-bay vestibule extended with vaulted rooms on either end. Its central bay, which opens to the prayer hall through a tall arch, is crowned with a stalactite cross vault. Its neighboring bays have umbrella vaults composed of 24 ribs.

The prayer hall consists of two domed units separated by a grand arch. Its interior of the prayer hall, including the mihrab and minbar, was renovated in the 19th century. The sultan's box (hünkar mahfili) to the left was added by Sultan Mahmud II in 1828-9. (A.H. 1244). There is an inscription on the qibla gate (to the shrine) of the mosque which reveals the year when it was built.

Doors on either side open to corridors that run alongside the prayer hall, giving access to three open eyvans, ending at the vestibule. Here, small passages lead to side exits. The mosque has a single minaret on the northwest corner, which is accessed from the room to the west of the vestibule. Here, small passages lead to side exits. Its stalactite balcony was replaced with a simpler design in 1936. The stone panels of the exterior were replaced in time. A contemporary ablution fountain stands in the plaza before the mosque.

The mosque has a single minaret on the northwest corner, which is accessed from the room to the west of the vestibule. Its stalactite balcony was replaced with a simpler design in 1936. The stone panels of the exterior were replaced in time. A contemporary ablution fountain stands in the plaza before the mosque.

The han, called the Kürkçü or Furriers' Han, is located down the Mahmud Paşa Highway from the hamam. It was completed in 1476 (871 A.H.) It had 167 rooms on two stories organized around two open courtyards and a basement for storage. The first courtyard is a replica of Fidan Han in the market neighborhood of Bursa, built also by Mahmud Paşa. It has remained intact save its portico, which was enclosed for additional space.

The second courtyard, irregular in plan with five unequal sides, was probably used for stables and storage. It is now largely replaced with modern shops and buildings. A freestanding assembly of shops, placed diagonally inside the first courtyard, used to have a mescid on its second floor. It is the only han that has come to our day from the Sultan Mehmed I era.

In addition, a bath, one of the oldest of Istanbul (1466), a water fountain or sabil (sebil), built by Mustafa Ağa (the chief officer of the Ottoman Palace), are the other structures which have made their way to the present day. Finally, there is only one classroom remaining from the madrasah of the complex.

Mahmud Paşa and his son are buried in an octagonal tomb to the south of the mosque. The exterior of the tomb is covered with stone panels that are inlaid with blue-green tiles between the cornice and the lower windows that are arranged in a pattern of interlocking wheels and stars. The domed interior is entered through a double arched door to the northeast. Built in 1473 (878 A.H), a year prior to the execution of Mahmud Paşa by Mehmed II, the tomb was restored by architect Mustafa Ayaşlı in 1946.

Hamam
The hamam, built in 1466 (871 A.H.), is located on the Mahmud Paşa highway leading up to the mosque. It consists of an entrance hall with latrines, a cold-room (sogukluk) and a hot-room (sıcaklık). The entry to the baths is adorned with a grand muqarnas portal beyond which the entrance hall looms large with its tall dome measuring 27 meters in diameter. Entering the smaller cold-room under a demi-dome, the square space with two eyvans and private bathing cells (halvet) is covered with a whorl dome.

The dome, 17 m in diameter, covering the frigidarium of the bath, which was built in 1466 - 1467, two years after the Pasha died, is impressive. The women’s section of the bath, damaged many times by fires, was destroyed, and Abud Efendi Han was built in the same place in 1895. It is the second oldest Ottoman bath in İstanbul and today it serves as a market.

The following hot room has an octagonal navel stone (göbektaşı) at its center under a dome pierced with lights that sits on eight piers. It has five eyvans with taps and basins between the piers and two other eyvans give access to private cells at the four corners of the chamber. A han stands today on the site of the women's section that was demolished. The remaining men's section survived damage by fire in 1755 and was restored in 1955.

Han (Caravanserai)
The han, called the Kürkçü or Furriers' Han, is located down the Mahmud Paşa Highway from the hamam. It was completed in 1476 (871 A.H.) It had 167 rooms on two stories organized around two open courtyards and a basement for storage. The first courtyard is a replica of Fidan Han in the market neighborhood of Bursa, built also by Mahmud Paşa.

It has remained intact save its portico, which was enclosed for additional space. The second courtyard, irregular in plan with five unequal sides, was probably used for stables and storage. It is now largely replaced with modern shops and buildings. A freestanding assembly of shops, placed diagonally inside the first courtyard, used to have a mescid on its second floor. It is the only han that has come to our day from the Sultan Mehmed I era.

Madrasah
The madrasa of the complex has been ruined save its large classroom (dersane). From the madrasah completed in 1472, there remains today only its classroom.

Sebil
A water fountain or sabil (sebil), built by Mustafa Ağa, the chief officer of the Ottoman Palace.

Tomb
Mahmud Paşa and his son are buried in an octagonal tomb to the south of the mosque. The exterior of the tomb is covered with stone panels that are inlaid with blue-green tiles between the cornice and the lower windows that are arranged in a pattern of interlocking wheels and stars. The domed interior is entered through a double arched door to the northeast. Built in 1473 (878 A.H), a year prior to the execution of Mahmud Paşa by Sultan Mehmed II, the tomb was restored in 1946.

Mahmut Pasha was executed in 1474, and adorning his tomb which resembles Seljuk architecture, the figures of tiles are unique and can be seen nowhere else. With 7.37 m diameter, the dome’s original epigraph was removed after the renovation of 1827 and a short inscription was replaced instead. Mahmud Paşa, the tomb’s builder, is burried in the domed tomb composed of limestone (küfeki taşı) blocks on an octagonal plan.

The türbe is octagonal and has windows on 7 sides and a door without porch on the eighth.The domed interior is entered through a double arched door to the northeast.The türbe is remarkable for the indigo, blue and green glazed bricks which decorate it sexterior walls forming interlocking wheels and star patterns.

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SULTAN ABDÜLHAMİT I MADRASA

Bahçekapı,  Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'56.0"N 28°58'24.5"E / 41.015556, 28.973472



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

Sultan Abdülhamid I Complex is situated in Bahçekapı. Its construction was initiated between 1775-1776 in the period of Sultan Abdülhamid I and completed in 1789. Its architecture is Mehmed Tahir Ağa.

Sultan Abdülhamid I (1774-1789) was built in 1776-1777 by the İmaret forms a part. Sultan Abdülhamid I wanted to build a mosque, but the most populous district of the city, such as the Yeni Mosque near the great temple conduct a soup kitchen, and thought it would be better for charitable establishment has done. İmaret side of this madrasa, dispenser, drinking fountain, the library added.

The madrasah (moslem theological school) part of the Sultan Abdülmecid I complex is used as the Istanbul Commodity Exchange today. The complex is the last one build by a pasha and its construction was finished in 1780. The madrasah as a building has the distinct characteristic of being build as an independent building with a basement, unlike the previous ones, which they were always connected to a mosque.

ISTANBUL COMMODITY EXCHANGE

The establishment of the Istanbul Commodity Exchange, was envisaged for the first time in 1880. However, this establishment could not have been realized for a long time due to some problems. At that time, the foundation of a commodity exchange had been entrusted to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. The legal procedure was supplied with the Regulation of Commodity Exchanges in 1886.

Hence, the establishment of the commodity exchange has been retarded. That delay was probably caused by the unwillingness of merchants in Istanbul to join that kind of institution which imposes some regulations which force them to make trade by following determined procedures and tariffs. Because of all these factors and the wars occurred at the time of the events, commodity exchange could not have been established at the period of Ottoman Empire.

With the proclamation of the Republic in Turkey, the subject had come to the agenda again by the proposition of some members of Parliament in respect of Denizli. The Istanbul Cereals and Commodity Exchange has legally been established on 19 October 1924.

Because of all these factors and the wars occurred at the time of the events, commodity exchange could not have been established at the period of Ottoman Empire. With the proclamation of the Republic in Turkey, the subject had come to the agenda again by the proposition of some members of Parliament in respect of Denizli. The Istanbul Cereals and Commodity Exchange has legally been established on 19 October 1924.

Instantly, since there was not a laboratory to inspect the crops, the construction of a new building started in May 1926. Cereals, pulse and oilseeds were inspected and published on boards. The Istanbul Livestock Exchange was opened separately from the commodity exchange on 13 February 1929 although the Istanbul Commodity Exchange had been very active in its establishment.

The Istanbul Livestock Exchange which had been operating in Karaagaç, has been abolished. All documentation has been transferred to the Istanbul Commodity Exchange by October 1943.

The name of "Animal Exchange" has been changed as "The Agency of Butchery Affairs". In 1988, with the Haliç Cleaning and Redeveloppement Project, it has been decided to move this slaughterhouse to Tuzla/Aydınköy. The Istanbul Commodity Exchange Livestock Establishment was opened at Tuzla/Aydınköy on 26 January 1989.

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WEB SITE : Istanbul Commodity Exchange

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : gensek@istib.org.tr
Phone : +90 212 511 8440
Fax : +90 212 522 2677

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RECAİ MEHMET EFENDİ SIBYAN MEKTEBİ

Vefa, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'56.1"N 28°57'28.4"E / 41.015583, 28.957889



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

The sibyan mektebi, or primary school, of Recai Mehmet Efendi, First Lord of the Treasury and Keeper of the Seal under Sultan Abdülhamit I. It is currently used by the İlim Yayma Vakfı as Recai Mehmet Efendi Kütüphanesi.

The upper floor is built of alternate courses of brick and stone, but the entire ground floor is sheathed in an elaborately decorated marble casing. In the centre is the projecting curve of the sebil with three fine bronze grilles between the columns; on the left is the ornate entrance portal, while balancing this on the right is a çeşme. A long decorative inscription over the sebil gives the date of foundation as A.H. 1189 (A.D. 1775).

Unfortunately, the level of the ground has risen considerably since then and this imposing façade has been somewhat swamped and belittled by it. But in spite of this and the poor condition of the fabric, it remains one of the more elaborate and charming of the small Ottoman primary schools.

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WEB SITE : Recai Mehmet Efendi Kütüphanesi

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : iyv@iyv.org.tr
Phone : +90 212 511 2290
Fax : +90 212 511 2291

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KUYUCU MURAT PASHA MADRASA

Vezneciler, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'41.0"N 28°57'36.0"E / 41.011389, 28.960000



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM

A small triangular medrese, this elegant little complex was built in 1606 by Kuyucu Murat Paşa, Grand Vezir in the reign of Sultan Ahmet I. 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 classical style Madrasah, L-shaped, with 14 rooms, the madrasah undergone numerous restorations during its history.

Entering, find the tomb 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. The tomb of the 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.

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. Kuyucu Murat Pasha Madrasah is today the Faculty of Fine Arts of İstanbul University.

Today, the complex has been absorbed by Istanbul University, its courtyard having been roofed in and used as a museum for the fine arts, while its library remains operational.

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WEB SITE : İstanbul Üniversitesi, Güzel Sanatlar Bölümü Başkanlığı

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : iubilgi@istanbul.edu.tr
Phone : +90 212 440 0000
Fax : +90 212 526 0300

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