Taha Toros Arşivi, Dosya Adı: İstanbul Genel Dokümanlarıİstanbul Kalkınma Ajansı (TR10/14/YEN/0033) İstanbul Development Agency (TR10/14/YEN/0033

Ramazanoğlu, Gülseren

Istanbul Sehir University Repository

T'he very first mosque in İstanbul was built in the early part of the eighth century by the Arab military 
commander, Muslime Abdulmelik, 
whose armies besieged Constantinople 
in the fifth attack of the Moslem Holy 
War on the city. Located in the Galata 
area of the New City, it is still called the 
Arab Mosque. A temple constructed 
during the time of the Byzantine 
Emperor Tiberius II was also converted 
into a mosque for the Moslem warriors.
It is called Yeraltı Camii (Underground 
Mosque) and can be visited in Karaköy.
Fatih Sultan Mehmet, the conqueror 
of Constantinople, ordered the 
construction of the most important 
mosques in Old İstanbul. The Fatih 
Mosque, with its huge complex of 
theological study, worship, and social 
facilities is supposed to have been the 
first cultural center in Istanbul The 
conqueror and his wife are buried in 
the türbe (tomb) of the mosque 
courtyard and an inscription from the 
Holy Koran on the main entrance 
indicates the importance the sultan 
attached to the freedom of conscience 
and faith.
After Fatih Sultan Mehmet, most of 
the Ottoman sultans built mosques in 
Istanbul either in their own names or in 
the memory of their mothers, fathers 
and children. The wealthy statesmen 
and leading citizens also followed the 
sultans’ path to construct numerous 
small mosques and mescids, a very 
small mosque without minaret. This 
tradition explains Istanbul’s great 
number of mosques and about 500 
mescids. Those who built mosques 
were aware of the importance of 
maintenance so that all mosques have 
been looked after with the funds 
obtained from the foundations 
established for that purpose.
The mosques not only immortalize 
their architects but are also treasury of 
the best examples of Turkish tiles, 
marble, woodwork, bronze work, 
stained glass windows, and calligraphy. 
Inscriptions from the Holy Koran are 
always the essential decorative 
elements in the mosques.
The Ottoman Turks started at first 
to construct one-unit mosques-a square 
area topped by a dome and with one 
adjoining minaret, while the practice of 
constructing monumental mosques 
developed gradually in İznik (ancient 
Nicea), Bursa, Edirne and İstanbul, the 
consecutive capitals of the Ottoman 
Empire. These multi-domed mosques 
with supporting pillars provided a 
wider prayer hall, and this type of 
construction is the continuation of 
what the Seljuks called Ulu Cami (great 
mosque).
by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu
ARCHITECTS
AND
THEIR WORKS ARE 
IMMORTALIZED 
IN ISTANBUL
Stained Glass at Süleymaniye
The Bayezit Mosque in Istanbul's 
Old City is an impressive example of 
the multi-unit mosque. The direction of 
its mihrab pointing to Mecca is 
supposed to be the most accurate in the 
Moslem world.
According to Evliya Çelebi the 
seventeenth century and first Turkish 
travel writer, Sultan Bayezit, in 
inaugurating the Bayezit Mosque 
bearing his name asked a person who 
had never missed a prayer in his 
lifetime to come forward to act as the 
mosque’s first imam to preach and lead 
the namaz rituals. When he saw that no 
one came forward, he declared that he 
himself had never missed his five 
t im e s-a -d a y  p ray ers, e ith e r  in 
peacetime or in war, and thus led the 
namaz rituals personally.
The multi-unit mosques provided 
wider but not unlimited prayer halls. 
The ultimate aim of the Ottoman 
architects was to create monumental 
interior space by limiting the number 
and size of the supporting elements, 
consequently reducing the number of 
the domes to a large central one. The 
mosque of Üç Şerefeli in Edirne, 
completed in 1473, with a central dome 
of about 26 yards in diameter, marked a 
great step forward.
It was only in the sixteenth century 
that the great Ottoman Turkish Archi­
tect Sinan created his mosque master­
pieces. During his 50-year career, Sinan 
built 477 buildings, of which 73 are 
mosques. His genius is clearly demon­
strated in the Süleymaniye Mosque in 
Istanbul, and he reached the peak of his 
talent in the Selimiye Mosque at Edirne, 
which has a dome of some 35 yards in 
diameter. By placing the supporting pil­
lars at the side of the walls, he created a 
great unity of space. The supporting 
semi-domes gradually reach the top, 
elevating the eye to the sky. The Seli­
miye Mosque, with its grandeur of 
height, matchless technique and ele­
gance has a unique place in the Moslem 
world. Sinan was one of the very few 
architects who could blend superior 
technique with beauty, and although 
the architects that came after him fol­
lowed his pattern, none has ever sur­
passed him:
Sinan’s Süleymaniye Mosque, fin­
ished in 1556, dominates the western 
heights of the Golden Horn waterway 
across the Galata Bridge.
To many, if reflects the majesty, 
power and glory of the Ottoman Empire 
during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the 
Magnificent. Its huge dome has a soar­
ing spaciousness as it rests on four mas­
sive columns. Its foundations go down 
to the shores of the Golden Horn. 
According to Evliya Çelebi, just the con-
Süleymaniyc
struction of the mosque’s foundations 
took three years. When the mosque was 
finished, Architect Sinan advised the 
sultan that this monument would last 
forever.
The Süleymaniye displays priceless 
treasures of sixteenth-century İznik 
tiles, elegant marble carvings, and 
stained glass windows. Sarhoş İbrahim 
“Drunken” İbrahim, who supposedly 
could create masterpieces only when 
inebriated, made the stained glass, con­
sidered the best sample of its kind. The 
calligraphy was written by Ahmet Kara- 
hisari, known as the best calligrapher of 
the Ottoman period. Here also, the 
woodcarving and mother-of-pearl 
inlay work are considered to be remar­
kable examples of the art.
Süleymaniye’s ten şerefes on four 
minarets stand for Sultan Süleyman the 
Magnificent as the tenth ruler of the 
Ottoman dynasty. The Sultan’s and his 
wife’s graves are in the courtyard and 
are decorated with beautiful tiles.
Like the Fatih Mosque, Süleymaniye 
also had a theological study center, and 
worship and social buildings. Formerly 
one was the Museum of Islamic Arts 
holding collections of priceless tiles, 
rugs, wood and metal work.
One of the most outstanding spec­
imens of Islamic art in İstanbul is the 
Blue Mosque(1616),where Sinan’s artis­
tic formulas were carried out by his stu­
dent, Mehmet Ağa, who built a square 
shape with a huge dome supported by 
four massive fluted pillars. The light 
streaming through numerous windows 
is diffused by the blue tiling of the inte­
rior walls-hence the name,Blue Mosque.
The mosque, unique in the world 
with six minarets, is often called the 
most beautiful in Istanbul and perhaps 
in the world.
Much like a museum, beautiful six­
teenth century tiles line its walls and its 
upper gallery. According to the records, 
21,043 tiles were used to cover the 
walls. The bronze doors, lace-like 
carved marble work and the mother of- 
pearl inlaid wooden doors are judged to 
be as beautiful and unusual as the 
famous tiles.
The Rüstempaşa Mosque (1561), 
near the Spice Bazaar, is the best exam­
ple of Sinan’s smaller works. This 
mosque has a spacious prayer hall and 
its walls are adorned with exquisite six­
teenth century tiles executed in 41 dif­
ferent tulip designs. Even the panels of 
calligraphy are made of tiles.
Rüstempaşa Interior
Rüstempaşa Tiles
■ Mihrimah Sultana, daughter of Sul­
tan Süleyman the Magnificent, had two 
mosques built by Sinan in İstanbul bear­
ing her name. One is in Üsküdar, across 
the Bosphorus in Asia Minor, and fac­
ing the ferry boat landing; the other is at 
the western Edirnekapi Gate of the city 
walls. The Üsküdar Mihrimah Mosque 
(1548) has marvelous woodcarving and 
the best samples of marble carving in its 
mihrab and minber an elevated seat 
reached by a flight of steps and covered 
with a a peaked cone).
Architect Sinan, known as Koca 
Sinan or the Grand Sinan, again proved 
his genius in the Edirnekapi Mihrimah 
Mosque (1555) located on the road to 
Kariye Museum, where the world’s best 
Byzantine mosaics are treasured.The 
Mihrimah Mosque ranks among the 
most beautiful in Istanbul, principally 
because of its four exterior supporting 
pillars reaching halfway to the height of 
the dome and topped with small domes 
and multi-windows.
When Yavuz Sultan Selim wanted to 
build a mosque in his own name, he 
called in his chief architect. The archi­
tect asked him what kind of a mosque 
he wanted. The Sultan roared: “How do 
you describe a mosque? Four walls on a 
square area withadome covering it.’The 
architect worried as what was so easily 
described was certainly not so easy to 
construct. He had no choice but to fulfill 
the Sultan’s order.Placing a huge dome 
on four walls without the help of the 
supporting domes was a daring 
throught. This mosque on a hill in the 
western part of the Old City is, there­
fore, architecturally very important. It 
also indicates the fact that Sinan’s 
predecessors also were very accomp­
lished architects.
Beginning with the very first 
mosque, architects, have built to give a 
stunning and singular silhouette to 
İstanbul, the city of domes and 
minarets.
Kişisel Arşivlerde İstanbul Belleği 
Taha Toros Arşivi


Architects and their works are immortalized in İstanbul

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