The Haseki Sultan Complex (also Hürrem Sultan Complex) ( tr, Haseki Hürrem Sultan Külliyesi) is a 16th-century

Ottoman imperial mosque The list below contains some of the most important mosques in modern-day Turkey that were commissioned by the members of Ottoman dynasty, Ottoman imperial family. Some of these major mosques are also known as a selatin mosque, imperial mosque, or ...

complex in the

Fatih Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...

district of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey. It was the first royal project designed by the chief imperial architect

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan ( ota, معمار سينان, translit=Mi'mâr Sinân, , ) ( 1488–1490 – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha (title), Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman Empir ...

History

The mosque complex was commissioned by Haseki

Hürrem Sultan Hurrem Sultan (, ota, خُرّم سلطان, translit=Ḫurrem Sulṭān, tr, Hürrem Sultan, label=Modern Turkish; 1500 – 15 April 1558), also known as Roxelana ( uk, Роксолана}; ), was the chief consort and legal wife of the Ottoma ...

, the wife of the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ� ...

. She had married the sultan around 1534 and probably used her dowry to finance the project. The buildings were designed by the architect

. It was his first imperial project and it is possible that some elements were planned by his predecessor. The complex contained a Friday mosque, a soup-kitchen (''

imaret Imaret, sometimes also known as a ''darüzziyafe'', is one of a few names used to identify the public soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th centuries. These public kitchens were often part of a larger complex ...

''), a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

, an elementary school ('' mektep'') and a hospital ('' darüssifa''). The large complex was built in several stages on either side of a narrow street. The mosque was completed in 1538–39 ( AH 945), the madrasa was completed a year later in 1539–40 (AH 946) and the soup-kitchen in 1540–41 (AH 947). The hospital was not completed until 1550–51 (AH 957).

Description

The simple mosque is constructed with alternating courses of stone and brick and has a single-galleried minaret. The portico has five arches with five small domes supported by six thin marble columns. Originally the prayer-hall was covered by a single dome with a diameter of 11.3 meters. In 1612–13, during the reign of

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( ota, احمد اول '; tr, I. Ahmed; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 until his death in 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal f ...

, the mosque was enlarged to accommodate an increased congregation. A second dome was added and the prayer hall was doubled in size. The painted decorations on the dome are not original. Unlike the madrasa and the soup-kitchen, the mosque lacks any ''

cuerda seca The term "cuerda" (Spanish for ''rope'') refers to a unit of measurement in some Spanish-speaking regions, including Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Cuba, Spain, and Paraguay. In Puerto Rico, the term cuerda (and "Spanish acre"ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

construction. The carved stone inscription over the entrance from the street is a

chronogram A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (χ� ...

in Turkish giving the date of construction. The madrasa is U-shaped around a central courtyard with 16 small cells and a lecture hall. The soup-kitchen is also arranged around a courtyard. The cooking area at the northern end has four octagonal chimneys. A surviving account book shows that there were originally tiled lunette panels above six of the windows. The complex was restored in 2010–2012.

Gallery

File:Haseki complex 9935.jpg, Haseki mosque from street File:Haseki complex 5966.jpg, Haseki mosque general view File:Haseki complex 5967.jpg, Haseki mosque original part File:Haseki complex 5965.jpg, Haseki mosque original part File:Haseki complex 5963.jpg, Haseki mosque added part with hünkar mahfili File:Haseki complex 5962.jpg, Haseki mosque, the first and second domes File:Haseki complex 0954.jpg, Haseki complex entrance to some buildings File:Haseki complex 1358.jpg, Haseki complex west side File:Haseki complex 0952.jpg, Haseki complex kitchens of imaret

References

Sources

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External links