The Piyale Pasha Mosque ( ota, پیاله پاشا جامع ), also known as the Tersane Mosque (literally: Shipyard Mosque), is a 16th-century Ottoman

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

located in the Kasımpaşa neighborhood of the

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (, ota, بك‌اوغلی, script=Arab) is a district on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city (historic peninsula of Constantinople) by the Golden Horn. It was known as the region of Pera (Πέρα, meani ...

district in

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 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 ...

History

The Piyale Pasha Mosque was designed by Ottoman 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 ...

for the

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

and grand admiral Piyale Mehmed Pasha. The mosque was built between 1565 and 1573.

Architecture

Unlike other mosques designed by Sinan that have a large central dome, the Piyale Pasha Mosque is constructed with six identical domes, arranged as two rows of three, each with a diameter of about . It is one of only two mosques in Istanbul with multiple domes, the other being

Vasat Atik Ali Pasha Mosque Vasat Atik Ali Pasha Mosque ( tr, Vasat Atik Ali Paşa Camii), also known as Zincirlikuyu Mosque ( tr, Zincirlikuyu Camii) or Karagümrük Mosque, is an Ottoman mosque located in the Karagümrük neighbourhood of the Fatih district in Istanbul, T ...

. The domes are supported in the center of the prayer hall by a pair of slender granite pillars. The minaret is placed in the centre of the anti-

qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...

wall. It was rebuilt in the middle of the 19th century. Around three walls of the interior are a row of

Iznik tiles Iznik pottery, or Iznik ware, named after the town of İznik in western Anatolia where it was made, is a decorated ceramic that was produced from the last quarter of the 15th century until the end of the 17th century. İznik was an established ...

with inscriptions in a white

thuluth ''Thuluth'' ( ar, ثُلُث, ' or ar, خَطُّ الثُّلُثِ, '; fa, ثلث, ''Sols''; Turkish: ''Sülüs'', from ' "one-third") is a script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new s ...

script on a cobalt-blue background. The interior walls are now whitewashed but they were originally decorated. The stained-glass in the windows of the qibla wall is not original. The domed octagonal mausoleum to the northwest of the mosque contains the tomb of Piyale Pasha together with those of his sons and daughters. Altogether there are thirteen sarcophagi. His wife, Gevherhan Sultan (daughter of

Selim II Selim II ( Ottoman Turkish: سليم ثانى ''Selīm-i sānī'', tr, II. Selim; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond ( tr, Sarı Selim) or Selim the Drunk ( tr, Sarhoş Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire ...

), remarried and is entombed in Selim II's mausoleum next to

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

. A number of identical Iznik tiled

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

panels that are now on display in the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the

Museu Calouste Gulbenkian The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum houses one of the world's most important private art collections. It includes works from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century, spanning the arts of the Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the French decor ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

are believed to have been removed from the Piyale Pasha Mosque in the 19th century. The panels would have been placed above the lower row of windows. Another possibility is that the lunette tiles came from a now demolished ''kiosk'' that was associated with the mosque. Two tiles from another lunette panel and a pair of tiles that probably came from the

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

were sold at auction by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

in 2004..

Gallery

File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6765.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque exterior File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6693.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque exterior File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6756.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque exterior File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6749.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque galleries File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6750.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque galleries File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6725.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque general view File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6718.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque view towards muezzin's platform File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6739.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque interior view from side File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6746.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque view towards mihhrab File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6728.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque mihrab detail File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6729.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque mihrab detail File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6730.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque mihrab detail File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6735.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque mihrab detail File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6702.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque mihrab detail File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6709.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque mihrab detail File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6733.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque domes from inside File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6763.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque entrance to garden File:Piyale Pasha Mosque 6758.jpg, Piyale Pasha Mosque founder's tomb

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Piyale Pasa Mosque
Archnet.
Photographs of the mosque taken by Dick Osseman
{{Authority control Mimar Sinan buildings Ottoman mosques in Istanbul Religious buildings and structures completed in 1573 Buildings and structures in Beyoğlu 1573 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 16th-century mosques