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Mosques
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Sultanahmet District |
Facing St. Sophia stands the supremely elegant,
six-minaret, imperial Sultan Ahmet Mosque. Built between 1609
and 1616 by the architect Mehmet, the bulding is more
familiarly known as the Blue Mosque necause its interior
gleams with a magnificent paneiring of blue and white Iznik
tiles. During the tourist season an evening light and sound
show both entertains and informs.
The cascading domes and four slender minarets of
Suleymaniye Mosque dominate the skyline on the Golden Horn's
west bank. Considered the most beautiful of all imperial
mosques in istanbul, it was built between 1550 and 1557 by
Sinan, the renowned architect of the Ottoman golden age. On
the crest of a hill, the building is conspicuous for its great
size, wh1ch the four minarets that rise from each corner of
the courtyard emphasize. Inside, the mihrab (prayer niche) and
the mimber (pulpit) are of finely carved white marble; fine
stained glass windows color the incoming streams of light. It
was in the gardens of this complex that Suleyman and his wife
Hurrem Surtan had their mausolea built. and near here also
that Sinan built his own tomb.the mosque complex also includes
four medrese, or theoiogical schools, a school of medicine, a
caravanserai, a Turkish bath, and a kitchen and hospice for
the poor. |
Suleymaniye
Another skillful accomplishment of the architect Sinan,
the Rustem Pasa Mosque was built in 1561 on the orders of
Rustem Pasa, Grand Vizier and son-in-law of Suleyman the
Magnificent. Exquisite lznik tiles panel the small and
superbly proportioned interior.
The imperial Fatih Mosque, constructed between 1463 and
1470, bears the name of the Ottoman conqueror of Istanbul,
Fatih Sultan Mehmet, and is the site of his mausoleum.
Standing atop another of Istanbul's hills, it vast size and
great complex of religious buildings -- medreses, hospices,
baths, a hospital, a caravanserai and a library -- make it
well worth a visit.
The great Mosque of Eyup lies outside the city walls near
the Golden Horn, at the supposed place where Eyup, the
standard bearer of the Prophet Mohammed. died in the Islamic
assault on Constantinople in 670. The first mosque built after
the Ottomanconquest of the city, this greatly venerated shrine
attracts many pilgrims.
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Ortakoy Mosque |
Sokollu Mosque |
Built between 1597 and 1663. the Yeni (New) Mosque hovers
over the harbor at Eminonu greeting the incoming ferryboats
and welcoming tourists to the old city. Today its graceful
domes and arches shelter hundreds of pigeons who make this
area their home. Marvellous lznik tiles decorate the sultan's
balcony.
The 16th century Sokollu Mehmet Pasa Mosque built in an
awkwardly shaped plot on a steeply sloping hill near
Sultanahmet is one of the most beautiful examples of classical
Turkish architecture and a masterpiece of the architect Sinan.
Inside, breathtaking blues, greens, purples and reds color the
elegant designs of the lznik tiles.
Walls of glass fill the four immense arches that support
the central dome at the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque inside the
Edirne gate of the old city walls. One hundred and sixty-one
windows illuminate this mosque, built by Sinan for Mihrimah
Sultan, the daughter of Suleyman the Magnificent, in 1555.
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