Yavuz Selim Mosque

The Yavuz Selim Mosque ( _tr. "Yavuz Selim Camii") (known in English as Selim I Mosque) is an Ottoman imperial mosque located top of the 5th Hill of Istanbul, Turkey, overlooking the Golden Horn. Its size and geographic position make it a familiar landmark on the Istanbul skyline.

History

The Yavuz Selim Mosque is the second oldest existent imperial mosque in Istanbul. It was completed in 1522, although an inscription in Arabic over the entrance portal indicates that it may have been in use a couple of years earlier. The architect is unknown. Numerous attempts have been made to associate the structure with the famous imperial architect Mimar Sinan, but there is no supporting documentary evidence, and the date of the mosque is too old. However, one of the "turbe" in the garden of the mosque is a work of Sinan (see below).

Architecture

Exterior

The mosque was built a terrace over looking 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.

Interior

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.

The Turbe

Located in the garden behind the mosque and overlooking the Golden Horn is the "turbe" of Sultan Selim I. The building is externally octagonal, and has a porch decorated with panels of tiles of unique design.

A second octagonal "turbe" with a long inscription carved into the stonework of the exterior contains the tombs of four children of Suleiman the Magnificent. It dates from 1556, and is attributed to Sinan. The third "turbe" in the garden is that of Sultan Abdülmecid I, built shortly before his death in 1861.

See also

* List of mosques
* Ottoman architecture

References

*cite book
last = Faroqhi
first = Suraiyah
year = 2005
title = Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire
publisher = I B Tauris
location =
id = ISBN 1850437602
*cite book
last = Freely
first = John
year = 2000
title = Blue Guide Istanbul
publisher = W. W. Norton & Company
location =
id = ISBN 0393320146
*cite book
last = Rogers
first = J.M.
year = 2007
title = Sinan: Makers of Islamic Civilization
publisher = I B Tauris
location =
id = ISBN 184511096X

External links

* [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=7910 Arch.net Digital Library]