The Şemsi Pasha Mosque ( tr, Şemsi Paşa Camii, also spelled ''Chamsi-Pasha'') is an 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 large and densely populated district of

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; ...

, in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

History

The Şemsi 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 the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman architect ( tr, l ...

for Grand Vizier

Şemsi Pasha Şemsi Ahmet Pasha also known as Chamsi-Pasha; (born: 1492; died: April 28, 1580) was a prominent Ottoman statesman of Albanian originDanişmend (1971), p. 25. who occupied numerous high-ranking political posts, serving at different stages a ...

. The Mosque is one of the smallest to be commissioned by a Grand Vizier in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

, however it is its miniature dimensions combined with its picturesque waterfront location which have made it one of the most attractive mosques in the city. The Mosque is a celebrated example of the chief architect's skill in organically blending architecture with the natural landscape.

Architecture

The complex stands on a roughly rectangular site aligned east–west with the Bosphorus shoreline. The square, single domed mosque abuts the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

at an angle, with the adjoining mausoleum of the donor projecting towards the waterfront. The garden, which over-looks the Bosphorus, is surrounded on two sides by the madrasa, with the mosque on the third side and the sea wall on the fourth. The mosque itself is unusual in that the

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

of Şemsi Ahmet is joined to the main building, divided from the interior by a grille. The

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

is crowned by a mirror

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

at the height of the prayer hall drum. It has three casement windows facing the Bosphorus and nine upper windows on three walls, adorned with coloured glass. Surrounding the Mosque is a larger complex, situated on the coast of

, also built by court architect

Sinan Sinan (Arabic: سنان ''sinān'') is a name found in Arabic and Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions, Early Arabic, meaning ''spearhead''. The name may also be related to the Ancient Greek name Sinon. It was used as a male given name. Etymology Th ...

near the Şemsi Pasha Palace and, according to the inscription over the mosque

portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...

, construction was completed in 1580. In 1940, an extensive restoration project was undertaken by the General Directorate of Religious Endowments, supervised by architect Süreyya Yücel. The complex stands on a roughly rectangular site aligned east–west with the Bosphorus shoreline. The square, single domed mosque abuts the coast at an angle, with the adjoining tomb of the donor projecting towards the waterfront. Its precinct is enclosed by an L-shaped madrasa to the west and south, and a seawall with grill-windows to the north, giving the impression that one is in a picture gallery looking at framed Bosphorus seascapes. The complex has two gates, one facing the land and the other facing the sea; the land gate opens to a private walled

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

which occupies the eastern precinct, behind the mosque's

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 ...

wall, which has become a burial site for generations of Şemsi Pasha. A gate along the seawall opens into the precinct

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

, which is shared by the mosque and the madrasa. A secondary gate along the cemetery wall to the east also leads to this courtyard via a narrow passage. The mosque portico, which envelops the prayer hall to the northwest and southwest, is faced across the courtyard with the madrasa arcade, at a smaller scale. Both the portico and arcade are covered by shed roofs and have pointed arches carried on columns with diamond-cut capitals. The mosque portico was rebuilt during the 1940 restoration. A single minaret with a single balcony rises above it, adjoining the southwest corner of the prayer hall. Entered through a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

portal on its northwest wall, the prayer hall is surmounted by a single dome, which measures about eight meters in diameter. The transition to the dome is achieved with four squinches over an octagonal drum pierced with four arched windows. The prayer hall has nine casement windows – two on each wall with an additional window on the southeast wall. Each casement is topped by an arched window with a different coloured

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

composition, and a circular window is placed above the mihrab. The simple

mihrab has a muqarnas hood. Muqarnas carvings were also used to highlight the springing of the squinch arches. The wooden minbar is a modern replacement. The mausoleum is attached to the prayer hall. It is entered from the outside from northwest, but opens into the prayer hall with a grilled archway. The chamber is crowned by a mirror vault at the height of the prayer hall drum. It has three casement windows facing the Bosphorus and nine upper windows on three walls, adorned with colored glass. Decoration is limited to the stalactite carvings of the portal and painted floral and

geometrical Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

motifs on the mirror vault. Although its portal inscription was lost, inscriptive plaques over the archway in the prayer hall were preserved. The tomb, like the mosque and the complex, are made of cut

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. The L-shaped madrasa has twelve domed cells and a large classroom, all fronted by an arcade whose shed roof is carried by nineteen

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

. Cells are placed all in a row except at the northern end, where a single cell encloses the arcade before the seawall. The classroom, which is seven meters squared, occupies the centre of the western wing of and projects beyond the madrasa wall. It is surmounted by a dome carried on squinches and raised on an

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, w ...

drum. There are six windows on three of the classroom's walls, leaving the western wall for a furnace and two shelving niches. Each madrasa cell has two windows, a furnace and one or two shelving niches. The arcade was enlarged following the restoration and the madrasa was refurnished to house a

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

in 1953 with the classroom use as the reading room. An additional room with privy cells is attached at the end of the southern wing.

Gallery

File:Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque tele2.jpg, Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque from ferry File:Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque 0297.jpg, Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque exterior of complex File:Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque 0502.jpg, Semsi Ahmet Pasha medrese across garden from mosque front File:Şemsi Paşa Complex, Üsküdar, Istanbul (16034805140).jpg, View from the Bosphorus File:Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque 0503.jpg, Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque from side File:Istanbul to Asia by metro May 2014 6255.jpg, Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque interior File:Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque 6256.jpg, Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque dome File:Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque 6257.jpg, Semsi Ahmet Pasha mosque window File:Istanbul to Asia by metro May 2014 6254.jpg, Şemsi Ahmet Paşa mosque founders grave

References

* Egli, Hans G. 1997. Sinan: An Interpretation. Istanbul: Ege Yayınları, 138–140. * Kuran, Aptullah. 1986. Mimar Sinan. Istanbul: Hürriyet Vakıf Yayınları, 193–196. * Gültekin, Gülbin. 1994. "Semsi Pasa Külliyesi." In Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi. Istanbul: Tarih Vakfi, VII, 158–159. * Necipoglu, Gülru. 2005. The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire. London: Reaktion Books, 452–498. * Sözen, Metin. 1988. Sinan: Architect of the Ages. Istanbul: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 312–315.

External links

* Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism �
A 360° panorama of Şemsi Pasha Mosque

Images of Şemsi Ahmet Pasha Mosque

18 pictures in a gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semsi Pasha Mosques completed in 1580 16th-century mosques Üsküdar Mimar Sinan buildings Ottoman mosques in Istanbul Mosque buildings with domes Bosphorus

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References

External links