Altunizade Mosque ( tr, Altunizade Camii), also known as İsmail Zühtü Pasha Mosque ( tr, İsmail Zühtü Paşa Camii) is a 19th-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
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.
The mosque is situated in the
Altunizade
Altunizade is a neighborhood of the municipality of Üsküdar in Istanbul, Turkey. It is located on the Asian side of the city.
The location takes its name from Altunizade İsmail Zühtü Pasha (1806–1887), a wealthy civil servant in the Ottom ...
neighborhood 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; ...
district in Istanbul. It was commissioned by
Altunizade İsmail Zühtü Pasha (1806–1887), who is buried in a protected place in the mosque's yard. The mosque was built in 1865.
It is probably the last example of
Ottoman architecture
Ottoman architecture is the architectural style that developed under the Ottoman Empire. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century and developed from earlier Seljuk Turkish architecture, with influences from Byzantine a ...
mosques in the Anatolian part of Istanbul. Initially, the mosque was part of a social complex ( tr, külliye) consisting of an
infant school
An infant school is a term used primarily in England and Wales, for the education of children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular area. It is sometimes a department in a larger primary school ...
, a
Turkish bath
A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...
, a time-keeping office for prayer, a fountain, lodgings for the
imam, the worship leader, and the
muezzin
The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important r ...
, the caller of prayer, a bakery and some shops. However, only some shops of the social complex of the mosque are preserved. The mosque is today in a very good state.
The mosque was designed in
Baroque Revival architecture
The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...
,
which can be identified at least by its large windows. Mosques built of this style are examples of the last Ottoman Empire era. It is situated in a small courtyard, which has three gates. An inscription is found above the biggest gate. Another inscription is attached to the outside of the wall facing
Kaaba in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
. The
narthex
The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...
was constructed as a covered place. Three doors in the narthex, one big and two small ones, lead to the sanctuary. An ornamented small
mihrab, a niche, is built in the wall of the narthex for prayer during the mosque's closed time. Two wooden staircases flanking the narthex lead to women's and muezzin section. The quadratic-plan mosque was constructed in limestone ashlar. Its inside is plastered. The sanctuary's walls are ornamented with hand-carved figures. The mosque has one dome,
which is supported by four arches carried by four columns in the mosque's corners. The dome's inner surface is sliced in 16 zones by eight pieces of two designs. The center of the dome is blue colored to draw attention, and contains a
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
verse. The marble
minbar is designed in the form of a drinking glass as seen in
Hırka-i Şerif Mosque. The windows are unusual big as an example of the Baroque Revival architectural style. The mosque has one minaret with one balcony.
It rises up on a quadratic base. The minaret's spire is made of stone in contrast to the lead sheet covered spires seen in the classical Ottoman mosque architecture. The spire is designed in the form of a
grand vizier's
turban
A turban (from Persian دولبند, ''dulband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Communities with promin ...
. A decorative line of stars is found in the mid of the minaret. In the lower row, there are three big windows at the side walls and two big ones flank the wall of mihrab. In the upper row, there are again three windows on each side, however, two small windows flank the big one in the middle.
References
{{Ottoman architecture
Baroque Revival architecture in Turkey
Ottoman mosques in Istanbul
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1865
Üsküdar
19th-century mosques
1865 establishments in the Ottoman Empire
19th-century architecture
Baroque mosques of the Ottoman Empire