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

PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 2

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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SÜLEYMANİYE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Süleymaniye - Istanbul - Turkey

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



PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 1

PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM - 2

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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YAVUZ SELİM MOSQUE

Yavuzselim, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'37.0"N 28°57'04.0"E / 41.026944, 28.951111



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The complex is located in the Yavuz Sultan Selim I neighbourhood of Fatih. This was one of the least accesible areas of the city with the Kırk Merdiven cliffs on one side and a deep cistern on the other. The Sultan Selim complex which was built by Suleiman the Magnificient in memory of his father, Yavuz Sultan Selim I, during the years 1516-1522 in the Sultan Selim area of the Fatih district on a hill which overlooks the Haliç (Golden Horn).

It consists of a  mosque, a soup-kitchen (imaret), a Sıbyan mektebi (Ottoman elementary-primary school), a darüşşifa (hospital), a Turkish bath, and a tomb. The buildings occupy the fifth hill of the historic peninsula, a prominent site adjoining the fifth century open air cistern Aspar.

Commissioned by Süleyman I (Kanuni, the Magnificent, 1520-1566) in honor of his late father Selim I (Yavuz Sultan Selim, 1512-1520), the Sultan Selim I Complex was completed in 1522, as stated on the inscriptive plaque on the mosque portal. Only the mosque, hospices, Quranic School and royal tombs remain from the larger complex that also included a hostel for pilgrims, a madrasa, double baths and soup kitchen. The soup kitchen to the north of the precinct was replaced by a girl's school in 1917; it contained a kitchen and stables.

The complex is located in an outer courtyard which rings the complex. The area designated for late-arriving worshippers is encircled by 18 columns and 22 domes. The 20 windows around the courtyard are covered with glazed tile panels, which are among the finest examples of the period. The portico of the courtyard is decorated with floral designs. A reservoir for ablutions is found in the centre of the courtyard. It is domed with eight marble pillars.

The mosque is situated in the middle of a large outer courtyard, and its enterance faces a cloistered inner courtyard that can be entered through three different directions from the outer courtyard, and which is encircled by 22 domes. There is an extraordinary fountain with eight columns located in the middle of the inner courtyard. The main area of the mosque is covered by a dome of 24.5 meters in diameter.

When both the size and height of the dome’s design are taken into a consideration, there is a clear attempt for it to dominate the main space of the mosque.. There is a respondent platform (müezzin mahfili), located on six small colums on the righthand side of the Harim (sanctum sanctorum) and an eye-pleasing Hünkar Mahfili (royal residence) is raised on eight columns on the left hand side.

The enclosed cemetery on the kiblah, or Mecca, side of the mosque contains of the remains of Yavuz Sultan Selim, the heirs of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent who died at a young age, his daughters and three tombs belonging to Sultan Abdülmecid. Of these, the window shutters, door, and wooden banister of the mausoleum belonging to Yavuz Sultan Selim are masterpieces in mother-of-pearl relief. Other than the mosque and mausoleum, the only structure which has survived to the present is the primary school, located in the outer courtyard.

Evliya Çelebi, a famous traveller and  historian, stated that cages with gilding in the royal residence had been added by Sultan Ibrahim (1615 – 1648). The inlaying used on tile panels, which are located on the door of qibla and on several window arches, adds to the artistic value to these elements. In addition, the inlaid marble pulpit and two minarets with single balconies attract the attention of visitors to this plain mosque.

There are two minarets with a single gallery each, and rooms on both sides of the mosque for the imam and müezzin. The shutters of the door are fine examples of engraving and mother-of-pearl relief. The mosque is square in shape and extremely simple in design. The pulpit is made of ornamented marble.

The enclosed cemetery on the kiblah, or Mecca, side of the mosque contains of the remains of Yavuz Sultan Selim, the heirs of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent who died at a young age, his daughters and three tombs belonging to Sultan Abdülmecid. Of these, the window shutters, door, and wooden banister of the mausoleum belonging to Yavuz Sultan Selim are masterpieces in mother-of-pearl relief. Other than the mosque and mausoleum, the only structure which has survived to the present is the primary school, located in the outer courtyard.

Commissioned by Sultan Süleyman I (Kanuni, the Magnificent, 1520-1566) in honor of his late father Sultan Selim I (Yavuz Sultan Selim, 1512-1520), the Sultan Selim I Complex was completed in 1522, as stated on the inscriptive plaque on the mosque portal. Only the mosque, hospices, Quranic School and royal tombs remain from the larger complex that also included a hostel for pilgrims, a madrasa, double baths and soup kitchen. The soup kitchen to the north of the precinct was replaced by a girl's school in 1917; it contained a kitchen and stables.

The mosque and its rectangular, walled precinct are aligned with qibla on the northwest-southeast axis. Three gates, located at the south corner (Türbe Kapısı), west corner (Çarşı Kapısı) and along the northwest wall, lead into the precinct. The mosque, with its cemetery, occupies the southeast end of the precinct and is composed of a single-domed prayer hall preceded by a large, arcaded courtyard and flanked by square hospice wings.

The mosque courtyard is entered from a main portal facing northwest, and two side portals. It is enveloped on three sides with an arcade of eighteen bays, continued with the six-bays of the prayer hall portico to the northwest. The bays of the arcade and portico are covered with domes, while the two bays adjoining the courtyard and prayer hall portals support lofty mirror vaults. An octagonal ablution fountain, covered with a domed canopy built by Sultan Murad IV (1623-1640), occupies the center of a courtyard, surrounded by four cypress trees. Grilled windows give views from the courtyard arcade onto the precinct; each window is adorned with a floral tile panel in its tympanum.

A muqarnas portal leads into the prayer hall, which measures twenty-four and a half meters per side - two bays shorter than the width of the portico. It is capped at thirty-two and a half meters by a single dome that rests on pendentives between four grand arches embedded in the walls. The interior is lit by four casement windows on each wall, which are topped by arched windows that display colored glass arabesques. Windows pierced at the base of the shallow dome are separated by buttresses on the exterior.

The exposed stone interior is decorated simply with inscriptive medallions bearing the names of God, the Prophet and Caliphs. Muqarnas carvings adorn the hood of the marble mihrab on the qibla wall, while the marble minbar to its right is carved with arabesque motifs highlighted in red, black and gold. The marble müezzin's platform (müezzin mahfili) abuts the southwest wall and is raised over six square pillars.

The large sultan's lodge, also of marble with eight precious columns, occupies the eastern corner of the prayer hall. It was constructed in the mid-sixteenth century, and is accessed only from the outside, with steps built into the northeast wall. Examples of period woodwork can be seen on doors, windowpanes and the ceiling below the sultan's lodge.

The hospice wings on either side of the prayer hall consist of nine domed bays that form a cross-shaped central hall and four corner rooms. The halls are entered from the prayer hall, or from the exterior. Two minarets with muqarnas balconies are attached to either end of the mosque portico where it meets the two hospice wings. The prayer hall, hospice and minarets were restored in 1930 and 1962, and most recently beginning in 2003.

Grilled windows give views from the courtyard arcade onto the precinct; each window is adorned with a floral tile panel in its tympanum. A muqarnas portal leads into the prayer hall, which measures twenty-four and a half meters per side - two bays shorter than the width of the portico. It is capped at 32,5 meters by a single dome that rests on pendentives between four grand arches embedded in the walls.

The interior is lit by four casement windows on each wall, which are topped by arched windows that display colored glass arabesques. Windows pierced at the base of the shallow dome are separated by buttresses on the exterior. The exposed stone interior is decorated simply with inscriptive medallions bearing the names of God, the Prophet and Caliphs. Muqarnas carvings adorn the hood of the marble mihrab on the qibla wall, while the marble minbar to its right is carved with arabesque motifs highlighted in red, black and gold.

The marble muezzin's platform (müezzin mahfili) abuts the southwest wall and is raised over six square pillars. The large sultan's lodge, also of marble with eight precious columns, occupies the eastern corner of the prayer hall. It was constructed in the mid-sixteenth century, and is accessed only from the outside, with steps built into the northeast wall. Examples of period woodwork can be seen on doors, windowpanes and the ceiling below the sultan's lodge.

It was built by taking samples of mosques in Edirne, and it is one of the last examples of a mosque with hostels. The mosque is situated in the middle of a large outer courtyard, and its enterance faces a cloistered inner courtyard that can be entered through three different directions from the outer courtyard, and which is encircled by 22 domes. There is an extraordinary fountain with eight columns located in the middle of the inner courtyard. The main area of the mosque is covered by a dome of 24.5 meters in diameter.

The mosque is located in an outer courtyard which rings the complex. The area designated for late-arriving worshippers is encircled by 18 columns and 22 domes. The 20 windows around the courtyard are covered with glazed tile panels, which are among the finest examples of the period. The portico of the courtyard is decorated with floral designs.

A reservoir for ablutions is found in the center of the courtyard. It is domed with eight marble pillars. There are two minarets with a single gallery each and rooms on both sides of the mosque for the imam and müezzin. The shutters of the door are fine examples of engraving and mother-of-pearl relief. The mosque is square in shape and extremely simple in design.

When both the size and height of the dome’s design are taken into a consideration, there is a clear attempt for it to dominate the main space of the mosque. There is a respondent platform (müezzin mahfili), located on six small colums on the righthand side of the Harim (sanctum sanctorum) and an eye-pleasing Hünkar Mahfili (royal residence) is raised on eight columns on the left hand side.

The mosque was built on a terrace overlooking the Cistern of Aspar, the largest of the three Roman reservoirs in Constantinople. The large courtyard (avlu) has a colonnaded portico with columns of various types of marble and granite. The mosque itself is decorated with very early examples of İznik tiles. The mosque is flanked by twin minarets.

The interior plan of the mosque is a simple square room, 24.5 meters on each side, covered by a shallow dome 32.5 meters in height. As with the Hagia Sophia, the dome is much shallower than a full hemisphere. The windows are decorated with lunettes of İznik tiles. To the north and south of the main room, domed passages led to four small domed rooms, which were intended to function as hospices for traveling dervishes.

Madrasah
On the Adnan Menderes Street, the madrasah was built by Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent for his father, Sultan Selim I. The 20 rooms of the madrasah, built by the Architect Sinan, surround the three sides of the courtyard. The madrasah’s classroom was transformed into a mosque in 1562 by adding a minaret.

Damaged in the fire of 1819, the minaret of the madrasah collapsed in 1942. The madrasah was abandoned after a fire while it was being used as soup kitchen in 1918. During the roadwork of Vatan Street in 1958, the madrasah was repaired and it functioned as the Turkish Calligraphy Museum between 1968 and 1980.

It was built by Mimar Sinan according to Tezkiretü’l-Ebniye, Tezkiretü’l Bünyan and Tuhfetü’l Mimarin which gives the list of artifacts of Mimar Sinan. There is no inscription which states the date of construction. But in sources it is stated that it was built in 1548-1549. The lecture hall was transformed to mescid (a small mosque) in 1562-1563 and a minaret and mimbar were added.

Madrasa was constructed with ashlar sandstone and brick in patches and was surrounded with walls. A monumental entrance was added to this wall’s front towards Aksaray and a fountain which has no tablet was added next to it. The courtyard is reached through a second port after this entrance which was covered with dome. Madrasa alcoves are lined up in U shape around this courtyard. The madrasa consists of nineteen alcoves and surrounds the three sides of the courtyard with an iwan.

Water-tank with a fountain in the middle of courtyard could not reach our day. Domed and hooped porches which were located on stone pillars in front of madrasa alcoves are combined each other with aspheric cinctures. The alcoves which are square planned are covered with pendentive domes. These alcoves are opened to porches via a door. They have three windows for each toward outside being two of them above and one below. Yashmaks of inner fireplaces have not reached our day. Tetragonal and hexagonal prismatic chimneys of fireplaces are shaped as leaded high cones.

Lecture room of madrasa is in direction of south-west and is slid towards symmetric axis of courtyard. Only its porch part is in courtyard and main body of the lecture room effused outside. Entrance porch of lecture room is covered with a hipped roof. A stalactite mihrab is located on the entrance of square planned lecture room. Two sub-windows and two top-windows are on four faces. The lecture room is covered with a pendentive dome and the passage to dome is provided via squinches. Inner adornment of its first construction has not reached our day.

Madrasa was damaged by a fire which was around after 1914, was used as soup kitchen in 1918 and was ruined by another fire in same year. Madrasa which came into the open during the making of Vatan Caddesi was restored by General Directorate of Foundations between 1958 and 1962. After that it was used as donation storage of Istanbul Principal Directorate of Foundations which consists of written works and carpets.

Royal Tombs
Four royal tombs are located in the cemetery behind the mosque's qibla wall. Made of cut stone, the tombs have octagonal plans and are covered with domes. The larger tomb of Yavuz Sultan Selim is distinguished by a portico with a shed roof carried on four columns. Past the wooden doors inlaid with mother of pearl is an entry vestibule adorned with two large tile panels. Its interior was repainted based on the original decorative scheme.

It contains the sarcophogus of Sultan Selim I (1465-1520), which is placed in the grave of the complex in the direction of the  qibla, and a white caftan is hung at the head of the sarcophogus. This famous caftan, which belonged to Sultan Selim I, was splashed with mud by a horse of İbni Kemal, who was a scholar of that period. There is a porch in the tomb decorated with panels of tiles of unique design. The doors and windows of the building are enriched with mother of pearls.

The tomb facing Yavuz Sultan Selim I to the northeast holds the graves of the three sons of  Sultan Süleyman I and two daughters of Sultan Selim I, and is known of the Tomb of Royal Princes (Şehzadeler Türbesi) where the three sons of Sultan Süleyman I and his two sisters and two daughters of Sultan Selim I were buried.

The tomb of Ayşe Hafsa Sultan (wife of Sultan Selim I and mother of Sultan Süleyman I) can be seen to the right next to the tomb of Sultan Selim I. The octagonal tomb that Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent ordered Sinan the Architect to build for his children who died in their early childhood dates to 1522. Tomb was damaged in the 1894 earthquake. Only remains of the walls of this tomb and iron bars of the windows survived till today .

The tomb of Sultan Abdülmecit, dated 1861, is the work of architect Garabet Balyan. Sultan Abdülmecit, who paid a special attention on Sultan Selim I, had the tomb shortened when he noticed his was higher. Beyond it is a similar tomb that holds the grave Sultan Abdülmecid, among others members of the royal family.

Caravanserai - Hospices
The low buildings adjacent to the minarets on the both side of the mosque are Tabhane (caravanserai - hospices). The hospice wings on either side of the prayer hall consist of nine domed bays that form a cross-shaped central hall and four corner rooms. The halls are entered from the prayer hall, or from the exterior. Two minarets with muqarnas balconies are attached to either end of the mosque portico where it meets the two hospice wings. The prayer hall, hospice and minarets were restored in 1930 and 1962, and most recently beginning in 2003.

Quranic School
The Quranic School (sibyan mektebi) is located on the northwest corner of the precinct, adjoining the Bazaar Gate (Çarşı Kapısı). It is single domed structure with a two-bay portico to its south. It has eight windows placed in two tiers on two walls. It was rebuilt after the 1918 fire and is currently used as a library.

Soup Kitchen
The imaret (kitchen) of the complex was destroyed in the earthquake of 1894 and the bath was destroyed over the course of time. Today, the building that was built by the Architect Kemaleddin on the imaret’s site in 1917 is Yavuz Selim Vocational High School for girls.

Sıbyan Mektebi
Sıbyan Mektebi, built at the entrance of outer courtyard, are the structures which still exist today.

Tabhane
The low buildings adjacent to the minarets on the both side of the mosque are Tabhane (caravanserai - hospices). The hospice wings on either side of the prayer hall consist of nine domed bays that form a cross-shaped central hall and four corner rooms. The halls are entered from the prayer hall, or from the exterior. Two minarets with muqarnas balconies are attached to either end of the mosque portico where it meets the two hospice wings. The prayer hall, hospice and minarets were restored in 1930 and 1962, and most recently beginning in 2003.

Primary School
The single domed primary school with a porch measuring 9.9 x 9.9 m was restored in 1960 after it had been ruined in the fire of 1918. The Quranic School (sibyan mektebi) is located on the northwest corner of the precinct, adjoining the Bazaar Gate (Çarşı Kapısı). It is single domed structure with a two-bay portico to its south. It has eight windows placed in two tiers on two walls. It was rebuilt after the 1918 fire and is currently used as a library.

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ŞEHZADE MOSQUE COMPLEX

Şehzadebaşı, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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