The Green Tomb () is a mausoleum of the fifth

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Mehmed I Mehmed I (; – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (, "the noble-born") or ''Kirişçi'' (, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with hi ...

, in

Bursa Bursa () 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 Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It was built by Mehmed's son and successor

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

following the death of the sovereign in 1421. The architect Hacı Ivaz Pasha designed the tomb and the

Yeşil Mosque The Green Mosque (), also known as the Mosque of Mehmed I, is a part of a larger complex () on the east side of Bursa, Turkey, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turks before they captured Constantinople in 1453. The complex consi ...

opposite to it. In addition to the sultan's sarcophagus, it contains seven other tombs: those of his sons

Mustafa Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

, Mahmud and Yusuf, his daughters

Selçuk Selçuk is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 317 km2, and its population is 38,151 (2022). The town Selçuk is located northeast of the ancient city of Ephesus, that was once home to the Temple of Artemis, o ...

, Ayşe and Sitti and his wet nurse (Daye Hatun).

Architecture

Set amid cypresses on top of the hill in the Yeşil neighborhood in

, the mausoleum stands higher than the rest of the complex. It is built on a hexagonal plan and crowned with a hemi-spherical dome. The exterior of the mausoleum is clad with the green-blue tiles that give it its name. A majority of the tiles were replaced by contemporary

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

tiles following damage in the

1855 Bursa earthquake The 1855 Bursa earthquake occurred on 28 February, with an estimated magnitude of 7.02±0.64 A devastating precursor quake that took place in Mustafakemalpaşa, a town of Bursa Province, in Turkey caused severe destruction all over Bursa and othe ...

.Tile with arabesque decoration [Anatolia (Bursa)] (1998.246) Works of Art Timeline of Art History The Metropolitan Museum of Art
/ref> The entry portal is crowned with a semi-umbrella vault and has muqarnas niches above marble seats on both side of the entrance. İznik tiles with flower patterns in blue, white and yellow adorn the portal. Inside, past the carved wooden doors, the royal catafalque stands on a platform at the center surrounded by seven other tombs. It is richly decorated with scriptures and flower designs painted in yellow, white and blue glazed tiles. The lower section of walls is lined with blue-green tiles, also used in tympana of windows on the interior. The muqarnas niche of

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', 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'' wall". ...

on the

qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

wall is also set in a large frame of ornamental tilework: the mosaic of tiles inside the niche depicts a garden of roses, carnations and

hyacinths ''Hyacinthus'' is a genus of bulbous herbs, and spring-blooming perennials. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and are commonly called hyacinths (). The genus is native predominantly to the East ...

. The

chandelier A chandelier () is an ornamental lighting device, typically with spreading branched supports for multiple lights, designed to be hung from the ceiling. Chandeliers are often ornate, and they were originally designed to hold candles, but now inca ...

and the colored glass windows are later additions. File:Yesil Turbe 7786.jpg, Decoration above entrance File:Yesil Turbe 7782.jpg, Decoration on the wall File:Yesil Turbe 7746.jpg, Mihrab and part of dome File:Green Tomb 7487.jpg, Green Tomb from outside File:Green Tomb 7483.jpg, Above entrance to tomb File:Green Tomb 7475.jpg, Grave of Mehmet I File:Green Tomb 7471.jpg, Top side of grave of Mehmet I File:Green Tomb 7462.jpg, Grave of Mehmet I in the Green Tomb File:Hafsa_hatun,daye_hatun,ayşe_hatun_türbesi_bursa_yeşil_türbesi_-_panoramio.jpg File:Yeşil_Türbe_01.jpg File:Yeşil_Türbe_06.jpg File:Green_Tomb_-_Yeşil_Türbe_(13).jpg File:Green_Tomb_-_Yeşil_Türbe_(19).jpg

Notes

References

* * Baykal, Kazim. ''Bursa ve Anitlari''. Türkiye Anit Çevre Turizm Degerlerini Koruma Vakfi: 1982, Istanbul. (Edited reprint of original from 1950) . * Goodwin, Godfrey. ''A History of Ottoman Architecture''. Thames and Hudson: London, 1997 (reprint of 1971). * Gabriel, Albert. ''Une Capitale Turque, Brousse, Bursa''. Paris, E. de Boccard, 1958.

External links

* * ArchNet.org
Photos of the Green Tomb

70 pictures of the tomb
Buildings and structures completed in 1421 Buildings and structures in Bursa Ottoman architecture in Bursa Mausoleums in Turkey Ottoman mausoleums Yıldırım, Bursa Culture in Bursa {{Ottoman architecture

Architecture

See also

Notes

References

External links