Fountain of Ahmed III

The Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III ( _tr. "Ahmet III Çeşmesi") is a Turkish Rococo structure located in the great square in front of the Imperial Gate of Topkapı Palace. It was built under Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III in 1728, in the style of the Tulip period. It was a social centre and gathering place during Ottoman period Constantinople.

History

The fountain kiosk of Ahmed III is located in the place of a Byzantine fountain known as Perayton. The architectural features of the exterior reflect a synthesis of traditional Ottoman and contemporary western styles.

Architecture

The fountain is a large square block built with five small domes. Mihrab-shaped niches decorated in low relief with foliate and floral designs in each of the four façades, each containing a drinking fountain ("çeşme"). The water is supplied from an octagonal pool inside the kiosk, with circulation space around it for kiosk attendants. On each corner is a triple-grilled "sebil" (from which an attendant issued cups of water or sherbet, free of charge, from behind a grille).

Above the drinking fountains and niches on each façade and "sebil" are large calligraphic plates bordered with blue and red tiles. Each plate bears stanzas of a 14-line poem dedicated to water and its donor by Seyyid Hüseyin Vehbi bin Ahmed, the chief judge of Halep and Kayseri. It is read clockwise around the fountain, beginning at the northern "sebil". The last stanza of the poem the northwest façade is a chronogram composed by Ahmed III.

Literature

* Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi. 1993. Istanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfi I, 116-117.
* Aynur, Hatice and Hakan T. Karateke. 1995. III. Ahmed devri Istanbul çesmeleri, 1703-1730. Istanbul: Istanbul Büyüksehir Belediyesi Kültür Isleri Daire Baskanligi.
* Egemen, Affan. 1993. Istanbul'un çesme ve sebilleri: resimleri ve kitabeleri ile 1165 çesme ve sebil. Istanbul: Aritan Yayinevi.
* Kara Pilehvarian, Nuran. 2000. Fountains in Ottoman Istanbul. Istanbul: Yapi-Endüstri Merkezi Yayinlari.
* Serifoglu, Ömer Faruk. 1995. Su güzeli: Istanbul sebilleri. Istanbul: Istanbul Büyüksehir Belediyesi Kültür Isleri Daire Baskanligi.

External links

* [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=7424 Archnet.org | Fountain of Ahmed III]
* [http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/BelgeGoster.aspx?17A16AE30572D313A79D6F5E6C1B43FFC9E307FC4AE1E4E8 Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism Website | Fountains in Ottoman Istanbul]