The Emir Sultan Mosque ( tr, Emir Sultan Camii) is in
Bursa
( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. First built in the 15th century, it was rebuilt in 1804 for the
Ottoman sultan
Selim III
Selim III ( ota, سليم ثالث, Selim-i sâlis; tr, III. Selim; was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, the Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa ...
, and rebuilt again in 1868, the plan of the mosque changing slightly with each rebuild.
History
Emir Sultan, also known as Şemseddin Mehmed Ali el-Hüseyin el Buhari (Mehmed Şemseddin), was a
dervish
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, ...
and scholar from
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
and also the advisor and son-in-law of the Ottoman sultan
Bayezid I
Bayezid I ( ota, بايزيد اول, tr, I. Bayezid), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt ( ota, link=no, یلدیرم بايزيد, tr, Yıldırım Bayezid, link=no; – 8 March 1403) was the Ottoman Sultan from 1389 to 1402. He adopted ...
. The religious complex around his tomb was first established by Sultan
Mehmed I
Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayezid ...
in the early 15th century. It was further developed during the reign of
Murad II
Murad II ( ota, مراد ثانى, Murād-ı sānī, tr, II. Murad, 16 June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1421 to 1444 and again from 1446 to 1451.
Murad II's reign was a period of important economic deve ...
(between 1421 and 1451), when Hundi Fatma Hatun, daughter of Bayezid I, built the complex's first mosque.
The present-day mosque is situated in the quarter of Bursa also called Emirsultan. It was built after the original 15th-century building collapsed in the
1766 earthquake. When it was rebuilt by
Selim III
Selim III ( ota, سليم ثالث, Selim-i sâlis; tr, III. Selim; was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, the Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa ...
, the previous mosque's foundations and some of its materials were reused in the construction, resulting in a work that mixes archaic Ottoman elements with new
Ottoman Baroque
Ottoman Baroque architecture was a period in Ottoman architecture in the 18th century and early 19th century which was influenced by European Baroque architecture. Preceded by the changes of the Tulip period, Tulip Period, the style marked a signif ...
ones.
Following the
1855 Bursa earthquake, the Emir Sultan Mosque and the mausoleum ( tr, türbe, links=no) were once again rebuilt in 1868 (1285
AH), this time in a pure Baroque style, in for Sultan
Abdülaziz.
Architecture
The mosque and mausoleum stand on opposite sides of a long courtyard with large ''
şadırvan'' (ablutions fountain) at the entrance. The courtyard entrances are at the east and west ends, and the mosque and mausoleum are accessed via the courtyard. A wooden arcade with pointed arches wraps around the courtyard and rises to form portals with tall domes in the bays leading into the buildings.]
The mosque, to the south of the courtyard, is a tall single-unit prayer hall of masonry construction with two
minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
s at the northern corners. The mausoleum, also on the south side, is composed of a domed room in the centre with smaller rooms to its sides and houses the tombs of Emir Sultan and his family. Other rooms on the north corner of the courtyard are used by the
imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
s. An Ottoman cemetery flows downhill from the complex.
Hundi Hatun, the wife of Emir Sultan and daughter of Bayezid I, was responsible for the
hamam to the south of the mosque.
There are several historic fountains scattered around the complex (
külliye
A külliye ( ota, كلية) is a complex of buildings associated with Turkish architecture centered on a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a waqf (charitable foundation) and composed of a madrasa, a Dar al-Shifa ("cl ...
), the earliest dating from 1743. One of them appears in a drawing by the British traveller and artist
Thomas Allom
Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many buildings in London, in ...
.
File:Emir Sultan Camii 7083.jpg, Emir Sultan Mosque: interior
File:Emir Sultan mosque panorama.jpg, Emir Sultan Mosque: interior
File:Emir Sultan Camii 7105.jpg, Emir Sultan Mosque: courtyard
File:Emir Sultan Camii 7095.jpg, Mausoleum of Emir Sultan within mosque complex
References
Citations
Bibliography
*Baykal, Kazım. 1982 (Edited reprint of original from 1950). ''Bursa ve Anıtları''. Istanbul: Türkiye Anıt Çevre Turizm Değerlerini Koruma Vakfı.
*Taylor, Jane. 1998 (revised edition). ''Imperial Istanbul : a traveler's guide, includes Iznik, Bursa and Edirne''. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers.
*Gabriel, Albert. 1958. ''Une Capitale Turque, Brousse, Bursa''. Paris, E. de Boccard.
External links
Photos of Emir Sultan mosqueThe mosque in 38 pictures
{{Authority control
14th-century mosques
Mosques completed in 1904
Ottoman mosques in Bursa
Tourist attractions in Bursa
Mosque buildings with domes
Yıldırım, Bursa
Baroque mosques
Ottoman Baroque architecture