ÜSKÜDAR SELİMİYE MOSQUE

Selimiye, Üsküdar - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'35.0"N 29°00'58.9"E / 41.009722, 29.016361



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Located in Üsküdar across the Selimiye Barracks, Selimiye Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Selim III (reigned 1789–1807) in 1805. It is on a hill overlooking Marmara and the Golden Horn. It is a group of buildings with its lodge, barracks, Turkish bath, dervish lodge, warehouse and textile manufacturing facilities. It is located in front of a large rectangular courtyard. It has gates on north, south, east and west sides. The south gate is a marble arch. Its top is decorated by leaves. There is the imperial signature of Sultan Selim III on it.

The dome of this square cut stone mosque measures 14.6 m in diameter and it has twenty four windows. It is supported by small towers at the corners. The elevation of the dome is 25.7 m from ground level and its interior side is decorated with verses from the Quran and calligraphic script. The pulpit and mihrab are made of somaki marble and the portico is roofed with five domes supported by six marble columns.

The great dome of four walls and 24 windows is supported by one small tower on each edge. The main entrance is from the west and it has ten stairs. The cupola that covers the main area is covered by bricks and plated by lead. There are two minarets with single balcony with two storey sultan offices.

It is located in front of a large rectangular courtyard. It has gates on north, south, east and west sides. The main entrance is from the west and it has ten stairs. The cupola that covers the main area is covered by bricks and plated by lead. On the west side of the mosque two floored Sultan rooms were placed and they were erected on marble columns. On the right the Sultan’s praying room, and on the left his resting and guest rooms are located. Selimiye Mosque is famous for its decorations.

The cupola is ornamented with paintbrush and central cupola is ornamented with verses of Koran. The south gate is a marble arch. Its top is decorated by leaves. There is the imperial signature of Sultan Selim III on it. There is a wooden ribbon which is fine example of Turkish woodcraft under the preacher desk, the pulpit is marble. There are verses of the Koran on all the doors of the mosque. The number of scripts in this mosque is unparalleled.

The baroque style Selimiye Mosque opposite the Selimiye Kışlası (Barracks) in Üsküdar was built by Chief Architect Ahmet Nurettin for Sultan Selim III when the construction of the mosque was finalized, the minarets looked thicker than intended so they were chiseled down to make them thinner. There are two minarets with single balcony with two storey sultan offices. However, these slenderized minarets could not resist the winds and it collapsed in 1823 and this led to reconstruction being required. The mosque underwent an overall renovation in 1964.

The pulpit and mihrab are made of somaki marble and the portico is roofed with five domes supported by six marble columns. The interior of the mosque is rich in marble and wood engravings. The mihrab and mimbar is made of porphyry marble. The latest congregational area is sheltered by 5 domes over 6 marble columns.

On the west side of the mosque two floored Sultan rooms were placed and they were erected on marble columns. On the right the Sultan’s praying room, and on the left his resting and guest rooms are located. Selimiye Mosque is famous for its decorations. The cupola is ornamented with paintbrush and central cupola is ornamented with verses of Koran.

The exterior surface of the total four gates has verses from Quran written on them. The muvakkithane (timekeeping room), which does not bear an epitaph, can be seen in the large courtyard of the mosque.

It also treasures the graves of Zibifer Kadın, wife of Sultan Selim III and Minister of Finance Mehmed Hasip Pasha.

The south gate is a marble arch. Its top is decorated by leaves. There is a wooden ribbon which is fine example of Turkish woodcraft under the preacher desk, the pulpit is marble. There are verses of the Koran on all the doors of the mosque. The number of scripts in this mosque is unparalleled.

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KEFELİ MOSQUE

Salmatomruk, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'46.6"N 28°56'28.9"E / 41.029611, 28.941361



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The building lies in Istanbul, in the district of Fatih, in the neighborhood of Salmatomruk, on Kasap Sokak. The Kefeli Mosque is a former Eastern Orthodox church, later jointly officiated by Roman Catholics and Armenians, and finally converted into a mosque by the Ottomans.

The origin of this building, which lies on the slope of the sixth hill of Constantinople, is not certain. The tradition says that in the ninth century Manuel, a general in the wars against the Saracens during the reign of Emperor Theophilos (r. 829-842), built a monastery converting his house, which lay near the cistern of Aspar. Manuel was the uncle of Empress Theodora, wife of Theophilos, and before retiring to his monastery he was one of the three counselors who assisted her in the regency for her infant son Michael III, following the death of her husband.

Greek and Jewish inhabitants who lived in Caffa ("Caffariotes" or, in Turkish, Kefeli) were then deported to Istanbul and relocated to this quarter. The Latins, mainly Genoese, were authorized to use this building as a church together with the Armenians. The church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, was officiated by the Dominicans, and kept by four Catholic families. Armenians and Catholics had separated altars. This small church depended on the near Catholic Church of Saint Mary, which later became the Odalar Mosque.

The origin of this building, which lies on the slope of the sixth hill of Constantinople, is not certain. The tradition says that in the ninth century Manuel, Drungarius in the wars against the Saracens during the reign of Emperor Teophilos, built a monastery converting his house, which lied near the cistern of Aspar. He was the uncle of Empress Theodora, wife of the Theofilos, and before retiring in his monastery he was one of the three counselors which assisted the Empress after the death of her husband and the minority of Michael III.

The monastery was rebuilt by Patriarch Photius, and was restored again by Usurper Romanos I Lekapenos. Emperor Michael VII retired here after his deposition. All these events shows the importance of this monastery in Constantinople. Anyway, the attribution of this building to the complex founded by Manuel is far from certain, and has been denied by the newest research.

The documented history of the edifice begins in 1475, shortly after the Fall of Constantinople, when the ottomans conquered the genoese colony of Caffa, in Crimea. All the Latin, Greek and Jewish inhabitants who lived in Caffa ("Caffariotes" or, in Turkish, kefeli) were then deported to Istanbul and relocated to this quarter. The Latins, mainly Genoese, were authorized to use this building as a church together with the Armenians. The church was dedicated to Saint Nicholas and officiated by the Dominicans.

In 1630, under the reign of Sultan Murad IV (1623-1640), the church was converted into a mescit (a small mosque) by Great Vizier Receb Pasha, but retained the denomination, being first known as Kefe Mahalle, then as Kefeli Mescidi. In exchange, the Armenians got a Greek church in Balat.

The building is a large hall, 22.6 meter long by 7.22 wide, and is oriented in North-South direction, which is quite uncommon among the Byzantine churches in Constantinople. Its masonry consists of alternate courses of bricks and stones. The original building had a triple-nave plan, but the only remains of the side aisles belong to the end wall of the western one. To the north side there is an arch and a semicircular apse made of bricks, which outside has a polygonal shape. The walls of the apse are indented by two niches.

The main aisle has walls which are lighted by two ranges of windows, which are irregularly spaced. The southern wall is also lighted by two ranges of windows. The lower windows are much larger than the higher. The entrance is situated in the middle of the western wall. Under the western side there is a cistern, whose roof rests on three columns.

The dating of the edifice is uncertain. The polygonal apse and the niches in the apse are typical of the churches of Palaiologan foundation. The building is architecturally interesting because it is an example of reproposition of the early Christian Basilica form during the later Byzantine period.

Kefeli Mosque is a large oblong hall, m. 22.6 long by m 7.22 wide, with walls constructed in alternate courses of four bricks and four stones, and covered with a lofty timber roof. It terminates to the north in an arch and a semicircular apse in brick. Two niches, with a window between them, indent the walls of the apse, and there is a niche in each pier of the arch. The building is entered by a door situated in the middle of the western wall.

Originally the eastern and western walls, which form the long sides of the building, were lighted by two ranges of round-headed windows, somewhat irregularly spaced. The upper range is situated a little below the ceiling, and forms a sort of clearstory of ten lights; the lower range has five windows, except in the western wall, where the place of  one window is occupied by the entrance.

The southern wall is also lighted by two ranges of windows, the lower windows being much larger than the higher. At some time buttresses were built against the eastern wall. Under the west side is a cistern, the roof of which rests on three columns. In view of all these features it is impossible to believe that the building was a church. Its orientation, the absence of lateral apses in a structure of such dimensions, the position of the entrance, are all incompatible with that character.

We have here, undoubtedly, the refectory and not the sanctuary of the monastic establishment. It resembles the refectory of the Laura on Mt. Athos, and that of Daphni near Athens. It recalls the 'long and lofty building,' adorned with pictures of saints, which formed the refectory of the Peribleptos at Psamathia. There is a tradition that the use of the building was granted at the conquest to the Armenian colony which was brought from Kaffa in 1475 to repeople the capital, Hence the Turkish name of the building.

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GAZİ ATİK ALİ PAŞA COMPLEX

Çemberlitaş, Fatih - İstanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'33.0"N 28°58'14.0"E / 41.009167, 28.970556



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In Çemberlitaş on the Yeniçeriler street, this Complex is one of the oldest Ottoman buildings in İstanbul. It was commissioned in 1496 by the Ottoman Prime Minister (Vezir-i Azam) Hadım Atik Ali Paşa during the reign of Sultan Beyazit II (1481-1512).  The mosque is located near the entrance to the Kapalıçarşı (Grand Bazaar), Column of Constantine and the historical Nuruosmaniye Mosque.

It is thought that the complex consisted of amosque, a soup kitcken (imaret), a religious school (madrasa), a dervish lodge (tekke), a caravanserai, and a tomb. However, only the mosque, tomb, and madrasa continue to stand today. The mosque is the main element of the Atik Ali Paşa Complex. In the courtyard are marble gravestones dating do the 17th century and there is also a tomb, the history of which is unknown. The school is located in front of the mosque.

Today only the mosque, school and the tomb remain from the complex which also contained a soup kitchen, caravanserai, and Dervish lodge.

The mosque was built of cut-stone on a "reverse T" plan. The great dome measures 13.30 m in diameter and is 24 m high. Sixteen windows are placed on the lower part of the dome and window gaps are placed on the other domes contributing to the interior lighting of the mosque.

The dome rests on four elephant leg shaped columns, with four smaller and a half dome supporting the main dome. The altar and pulpit are carved from white marble, the assembly area has five domes with a single balconied minaret on the right hand side.

The central niche, with muqarnas showcasing Classical Ottoman architectural concepts, and the pulpit both are covered with black and white marble in order to protect their simplicity during the first years of construction.

During the earthquake of 1648, its dome was completely destroyed and its minarets partially collapsed. It was also damaged by the earthquakes which occurred in the years 1716 and 1766. Each time the mosque was has been erected again after being demolished by these earthquakes.

The last prayer section of the mosque, which is composed of cut stones, is covered by five domes. The mosque also has a space of 21.55 x 28.13 m. The central dome of the mosque, measuring 13.30 m in diameter, forms the ceiling of the structure and is supported by a half-dome and four smaller domes.

As for to the mosque’s minaret, with its single shrefe (balcony), it has lost its original shape after the earthquake in 1648. It is unknown for whom the tomb was built, and the graveyard of the complex is located in the corner of the street wall. During road broadening works in 1880, the front part of the Madrasa (religious school), one other building of the complex which has stood until today, was demolished and two rooms were later added.

In the courtyard are marble gravestones dating do the 17th century and there is also a tomb, the history of which is unknown. The school is located in front of the mosque.

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