Ottoman architecture
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Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
over a long period, undergoing some significant changes during its history. It first emerged in northwestern
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
in the late 13th century and developed from earlier Seljuk Turkish architecture, with influences from
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
and
Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...
architecture along with other architectural traditions in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. Early Ottoman architecture experimented with multiple building types over the course of the 13th to 15th centuries, progressively evolving into the classical Ottoman style of the 16th and 17th centuries. This style was a mixture of native Turkish tradition and influences from the
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...
, resulting in monumental mosque buildings focused around a high central
dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
with a varying number of semi-domes. The most important architect of the classical period is
Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan (; , ; – 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 Empire, Ottoman architect, engineer and mathematician for sultans Suleiman ...
, whose major works include the
Şehzade Mosque The Şehzade Mosque () is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in the district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent as a memorial to his son Şehzade Mehmed who died in 1543 ...
,
Süleymaniye Mosque The Süleymaniye Mosque (, ) is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Seven hills of Istanbul, Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent () and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An ...
, and Selimiye Mosque. The second half of the 16th century also saw the apogee of certain Ottoman decorative arts, most notably in the use of Iznik tiles. Beginning in the 18th century, Ottoman architecture was opened to external influences, particularly
Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...
in
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
. Changes appeared during the style of the Tulip Period, followed by the emergence of the Ottoman Baroque style in the 1740s. The
Nuruosmaniye Mosque The Nuruosmaniye Mosque () is an 18th-century Ottoman mosque located in the Çemberlitaş neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey, which was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey in 2016. Designed by a G ...
is one of the most important examples of this period. The architecture of the 19th century saw more influences imported from Western Europe, brought in by architects such as those from the
Balyan family The Balyan family (; ) was a prominent Armenians, Armenian family in the Ottoman Empire of court architects in the service of List of Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultans and other members of the Ottoman dynasty during the 18th and 1 ...
.
Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...
and Neoclassical motifs were introduced and a trend towards
eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...
was evident in many types of buildings, such as the
Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( ) is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922. Histor ...
. The last decades of the Ottoman Empire saw the development of a new architectural style called neo-Ottoman or Ottoman revivalism, also known as the First National Architectural Movement, by architects such as
Mimar Kemaleddin Ahmed Kemaleddin (; 187013 July 1927), widely known as Mimar Kemaleddin (''Architect Kemaleddin'') was a Turkish architect, and one of the leading figures of the first national architectural movement, First National architectural movement, alo ...
and Vedat Tek. Ottoman dynastic patronage was concentrated in the historic capitals of
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 ...
,
Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
, and
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
(
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
), as well as in several other important administrative centers such as
Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...
and
Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...
. It was in these centers that most important developments in Ottoman architecture occurred and that the most monumental Ottoman architecture can be found. Major religious monuments were typically architectural complexes, known as a ''
külliye A külliye () is a complex of buildings associated with Turkish architecture centered on a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a waqf (charitable foundation) and composed of a madrasa, a Dar al-Shifa (clinic), kitchens ...
'', that had multiple components providing different services or amenities. In addition to a
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
, these could include a
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
, a
hammam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, 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 from the model ...
, an imaret, a
sebil A sabil or sebil (; ) is a small kiosk in the Islamic architectural tradition where water is freely dispensed to members of the public by an attendant behind a grilled window. The term is sometimes also used to refer to simple unmanned fountain ...
, a market, a
caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...
, a
primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, or others. Ottoman constructions were still abundant in Anatolia and in the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
(
Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...
), but in the more distant Middle Eastern and
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
n provinces older Islamic architectural styles continued to hold strong influence and were sometimes blended with Ottoman styles.


Early Ottoman period (14th to 15th centuries)


Before 1453

The first Ottomans were established in northwest Anatolia near the borders of the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. Their position at this frontier encouraged influences from
Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great established a new Roman capital in Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the Fall of Cons ...
and other ancient remains, and there are examples of architectural experimentation under many local Turkish dynasties in the region during this period. One of the early Ottoman stylistic distinctions that emerged was a tradition of designing more complete façades in front of mosques, especially in the form of a
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
with arches and columns. Another early distinction was the reliance on domes. The first Ottoman structures were built in
Söğüt Söğüt (, ) is a town in Bilecik Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Söğüt District.� ...
, the earliest Ottoman capital, and in nearby
Bilecik Bilecik is a city in northwestern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Bilecik Province and Bilecik District.Ertuğrul Ertuğrul or Ertuğrul Ghazi (; died ) was a 13th-century uch bey (marcher-lord), who was the father of Osman I. Little is known about Ertuğrul's life. According to Ottoman Empire, Ottoman tradition, he was the son of Suleyman Shah, the leader ...
's time (late 13th century).
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 ...
was captured in 1326 by the Ottoman leader
Orhan Orhan Ghazi (; , also spelled Orkhan; died 1362) was the second sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1323/4 to 1362. He was born in Söğüt, as the son of Osman I. In the early stages of his reign, Orhan focused his energies on conquering mos ...
. It served as the Ottoman capital until 1402, becoming a major center of patronage and construction. Orhan also captured İznik in 1331, turning it into another early center of Ottoman art. In this early period there were generally three types of mosques: the single-domed mosque, the T-plan mosque, and the multi-unit or multi-dome mosque. The Hacı Özbek Mosque (1333) in İznik is the oldest Ottoman mosque with an inscription that documents its construction and it is the oldest example of the Ottoman single-domed mosque, consisting of a square chamber covered by a dome. Another early single-domed mosque is the Green Mosque in İznik (1378–1391), which is the first Ottoman mosque for which the name of the architect (Hacı bin Musa) is known. The main dome covers a square space and the transition between the round base of the dome and the square chamber below is achieved through a series of triangular carvings known as "Turkish triangles", a type of
pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to point ...
which was common in Anatolian Seljuk and early Ottoman architecture. In 1334–1335, Orhan built a mosque in İznik that no longer stands but has been excavated by archeologists. It is significant as the earliest known example of a type of building called a ''zaviye'' (from Arabic '' zawiya''), "T-plan" mosque, or "Bursa-type" mosque. This type of building is characterized by a central court, typically covered by a dome, with
iwan An iwan (, , also as ''ivan'' or ''ivān''/''īvān'', , ) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...
s (domed or vaulted halls that are open to the courtyard) on three sides, one of which is oriented towards 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 ...
'' (direction of prayer) and contains the ''
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". ...
'' (wall niche symbolizing the ''qibla''). The front façade usually incorporated a portico along its entire width. The iwans on the side and the other various rooms attached to these buildings may have served to house
Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...
students and traveling
dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...
es, since the Sufi brotherhoods were one of the main supporters of the early Ottomans. Variations of this floor plan were the most common type of major religious structure sponsored by the early Ottoman elites. The "Bursa-type" label comes from the fact that multiple examples of this kind were built in and around Bursa, including the Orhan Gazi Mosque (1339), the Hüdavendigar (Murad I) Mosque (1366–1385), the Yildirim Bayezid I Mosque (completed in 1395), and the Green Mosque built by
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 ...
(1412–1424). The Green Mosque is notable for its extensive
tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...
decoration in the '' cuerda seca'' technique. It is the first instance of lavish tile decoration in Ottoman architecture. These mosques were all part of larger religious complexes (''
külliye A külliye () is a complex of buildings associated with Turkish architecture centered on a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a waqf (charitable foundation) and composed of a madrasa, a Dar al-Shifa (clinic), kitchens ...
''s) that included other structures offering services such as
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
s (Islamic colleges),
hammam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, 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 from the model ...
s (public bathhouses), and imarets (charitable kitchens). The most unusual mosque of this period is the multi-domed
congregational mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''Friday prayer, jumu'ah' ...
known as the Grand Mosque of Bursa or . The mosque was commissioned by
Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...
after the
Battle of Nicopolis The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 and resulted in the rout of an allied Crusader army (assisted by the Venetian navy) at the hands of an Ottoman force, raising the siege of the Danubian fortress of Nicopolis and le ...
in 1396 and finished in 1399–1400. It consists of a large
hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or und ...
hall divided into twenty equal bays in a rectangular four-by-five grid, each covered by a dome supported by stone piers. After Bayezid I was defeated at the Battle of Ankara in 1402, the Ottoman capital was moved to
Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
in
Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...
. The last major multi-dome mosque built by the Ottomans (with some exceptions), is the Old Mosque () in Edirne, built between 1403 and 1414. In later periods, the multi-dome building type was adapted for use in non-religious buildings instead, such as ''
bedesten A bedesten (variants: bezistan, bezisten, bedestan) is a type of covered market or market hall which was historically found in the cities of the Ottoman Empire. It was typically the central building of the commercial district of an Ottoman town o ...
s'' (market halls). The reign of
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 ...
() marked an important architectural development in the form of the
Üç Şerefeli Mosque The Üç Şerefeli Mosque () is a 15th-century Ottoman mosque in Edirne, Turkey. History The Üç Şerefeli Mosque was commissioned by Ottoman sultan Murad II (r. 1421–1444, 1446–1451), and built between 1438 and 1447. It is located in the ...
, built in Edirne from 1437 to 1447. It has a very different design from earlier mosques, with a nearly square floor plan divided between a rectangular courtyard and a rectangular prayer hall. The open-air courtyard has a central fountain and is surrounded by a portico of arches and domes, with a decorated central portal leading into the courtyard from the outside and another one leading from the courtyard into the prayer hall. The prayer hall is centered around a huge dome which covers most of the middle part of the hall, while the sides of the hall are covered by pairs of smaller domes. The central dome is larger than any other Ottoman dome built before this. The mosque has a total of four
minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...
s, arranged around the four corners of the courtyard. Its southwestern minaret was the tallest Ottoman minaret built up to that time and features three balconies (from which the mosque's name derives). This new design was a culmination of previous architectural experimentation and foreshadowed the features of later Ottoman mosque architecture.


After 1453

After he conquered Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) in 1453, one of Sultan
Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
's first constructions in the city was a palace, known as the Old Palace (). In 1459, he began construction of a second palace known as the New Palace (') and later as the
Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...
("Cannon-Gate Palace"). It was mostly laid out between 1459 and 1465, but it has since been repeatedly modified over subsequent centuries by different rulers and today it is an accumulation of different styles and periods. The palace consists of multiple courtyards, enclosures, and pavilions spread across a precinct delimited by an outer wall. Its seemingly irregular layout was a reflection of a clear hierarchical organization of functions and private residences, with the innermost areas reserved for the privacy of the sultan and his innermost circle. Mehmed II's largest contribution to religious architecture was the
Fatih Mosque The Fatih Mosque (, "Conqueror's Mosque" in English language, English) is an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman mosque off Fevzi Paşa Caddesi in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The original mosque was constructed between 1463 and 1470 on the site ...
complex in Istanbul, built from 1463 to 1470. It was part of a very large ''külliye'' which also included a ''tabhane'' (guesthouse for travelers), an imaret, a '' darüşşifa'' (hospital), a
caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...
(hostel for traveling merchants), a '' mektep'' (primary school), a library, a hammam, shops, a cemetery with the founder's mausoleum, and eight madrasas along with their annexes. The buildings largely ignored any existing topography and were arranged in a strongly symmetrical layout on a vast square terrace with the monumental mosque at its center. The original mosque was mostly destroyed by an earthquake in 1766. Its design has been reconstructed by scholars using historical sources. It likely reflected the combination of the Byzantine church tradition (especially the
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...
) with the Ottoman tradition that had evolved since the early imperial mosques of Bursa and Edirne. Drawing on the ideas established by the earlier Üç Şerefeli Mosque, it comprised a rectangular courtyard leading to a domed prayer hall. The latter was covered by a large central dome with a semi-dome behind it (on the ''qibla'' side), flanked by a row of three smaller domes on either side. After Mehmed II, the reign of
Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...
(1481–1512) is again marked by extensive architectural patronage, of which the two most outstanding and influential examples are the Bayezid II Complex in Edirne and the Bayezid II Mosque in Istanbul. The Bayezid II Mosque in Istanbul, built between 1500 and 1505, again features a courtyard leading to a square prayer hall. However, its prayer hall makes use of two semi-domes aligned with the main central dome, while the side aisles are each covered by four smaller domes. Compared to earlier mosques, this results in a much more sophisticated "cascade of domes" effect for the building's exterior profile. This design, with its deliberate arrangement of established Ottoman architectural elements into a strongly symmetrical plan, is another culmination of previous architectural exploration and represents the last step towards the classical Ottoman style.


Classical period (16th to 17th centuries)

The start of the classical period is strongly associated with the works of the imperial architect
Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan (; , ; – 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 Empire, Ottoman architect, engineer and mathematician for sultans Suleiman ...
. During this period the bureaucracy of the Ottoman state, whose foundations were laid in Istanbul by Mehmet II, became increasingly elaborate and the profession of the architect became further institutionalized. The long reign of
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
is also recognized as the apogee of Ottoman political and
cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
development, with extensive patronage in art and architecture by the sultan, his family, and his high-ranking officials. In this period, Ottoman architecture, especially under the work and influence of Sinan, saw a new unification and harmonization of the various architectural elements and influences that it had previously absorbed but which had not yet been fully synthesized into a collective whole. Ottoman architecture used a limited set of general forms – such as domes, semi-domes, and arcaded porticos – which were repeated in every structure and could be combined in a limited number of ways. The ingenuity of successful architects such as Sinan lay in the careful and calculated attempts to solve problems of space, proportion, and harmony. This period is also notable for the development of Iznik tile decoration in Ottoman monuments, with the artistic peak of this medium beginning in the second half of the 16th century.


The era of Sinan

The master architect of the classical period, Mimar Sinan, served as the chief court architect (''mimarbaşi'') for some 50 years from 1538 until his death in 1588. Sinan credited himself with the design of over 300 buildings, though another estimate of his works puts it at nearly 500. He is credited with designing buildings as far as
Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...
(present-day
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
) and
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
. He was probably not present to directly supervise projects far from the capital, so in these cases his designs were most likely executed by his assistants or by local architects. Sinan's first major imperial commission was the
Şehzade Mosque The Şehzade Mosque () is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in the district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent as a memorial to his son Şehzade Mehmed who died in 1543 ...
complex, which Suleiman dedicated to
Şehzade Mehmed Şehzade Mehmed (; 1521 – 7 November 1543) was an Ottoman prince, son of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxelana, Hürrem Sultan. He served as governor of Manisa. Early life Şehzade Mehmed was born in 1521 in the Old Palace, d ...
, his son who died in 1543. The complex was built between 1545 and 1548. The mosque has a rectangular floor plan divided into two equal squares, with one square occupied by the courtyard and the other occupied by the prayer hall. The prayer hall consists of a central dome surrounded by semi-domes on four sides, with smaller domes occupying the corners. Smaller semi-domes also fill the space between the corner domes and the main semi-domes. This design represents the culmination of the previous domed and semi-domed buildings in Ottoman architecture, bringing complete symmetry to the dome layout. Sinan's early innovations are also evident in the way he organized the structural supports of the dome. Instead of having the dome rest on thick walls all around it (as was previously common), he concentrated the load-bearing supports into a limited number of buttresses along the outer walls of the mosque and in four pillars inside the mosque itself at the corners of the dome. This allowed for the walls in between the buttresses to be thinner and able to accommodate more windows to bring in more light. Sinan also moved the outer walls inward, near the inner edge of the buttresses, so that the latter were less visible inside the mosque. On the outside, he added domed porticos along the lateral façades of the building which further obscured the buttresses and gave the exterior a greater sense of monumentality. The basic design of the Şehzade Mosque, with its symmetrical dome and four semi-dome layout, proved popular with later architects and was repeated in classical Ottoman mosques after Sinan (e.g. the
Sultan Ahmed Mosque The Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today. It al ...
, the New Mosque at
Eminönü Eminönü, historically known as Pérama, is a predominantly commercial waterfront area of Istanbul within the Fatih district near the confluence of the Golden Horn with the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait and the Sea of Marmara. It is l ...
, and the 18th-century reconstruction of the Fatih Mosque). Despite this legacy and the symmetry of its design, Sinan considered the Sehzade Mosque his "apprentice" work and was not satisfied with it. He did not repeat its layout in any of his other works during his career. He instead experimented with other designs that seemed to aim for a completely unified interior space and for ways to emphasize the visitor's perception of the main dome upon entering a mosque. One of the results of this objective was that any space that did not belong to the central domed space was reduced to a minimum, subordinate role, if not altogether absent. In 1550, Sinan began construction for the Süleymaniye complex, a monumental religious and charitable complex dedicated to Suleiman. Construction finished in 1557. Following the example of the earlier Fatih complex, it consists of many buildings arranged around the main mosque in the center, on a planned site occupying the summit of a hill in Istanbul. The Süleymaniye Mosque complex is one of the most important symbols of Ottoman architecture and is often considered by scholars to be the most magnificent mosque in Istanbul. The mosque itself has a form similar to that of the earlier Bayezid II Mosque: a central dome preceded and followed by semi-domes, with smaller domes covering the sides. In particular, the building replicates the central dome layout of the Hagia Sophia and this may be interpreted as a desire by Suleiman to emulate the structure of the Hagia Sophia, demonstrating how this ancient monument continued to hold tremendous symbolic power in Ottoman culture. Nonetheless, Sinan employed innovations similar to those he used previously in the Şehzade Mosque: he concentrated the load-bearing supports into a limited number of columns and pillars, which allowed for more windows in the walls and minimized the physical separations within of the prayer hall. The exterior façades of the mosque are characterized by ground-level porticos, two large tympanum-like walls below the dome that are pierced by an array of windows, and domes and semi-domes that progressively culminate upwards – in a roughly
pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
al fashion – to the large central dome. After designing the Süleymaniye complex, Sinan appears to have focused on experimenting with the single-domed space. In the 1550s and 1560s, he experimented with an "octagonal baldaquin" design for the main dome, in which the dome rests on an octagonal
drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
supported by a system of eight pillars or buttresses. An example of this is the Rüstem Pasha Mosque (1561) in Istanbul. This mosque is also famous for its wide array of Iznik tiles covering the walls of its exterior portico and its interior, unprecedented in Ottoman architecture, contrasting with the usually restrained decoration Sinan employed in other buildings. Sinan's crowning masterpiece is the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, which was begun in 1568 and completed in 1574 (or possibly 1575). Its prayer hall is notable for being completely dominated by a single massive dome, whose view is unimpeded by the structural elements seen in other large domed mosques before this. This design is the culmination of Sinan's spatial experiments, making use of the octagonal baldaquin as the most effective method of integrating the round dome with the rectangular hall below by minimizing the space occupied by the supporting elements of the dome. The dome is supported on eight massive pillars which are partly freestanding but closely integrated with the outer walls. Additional outer buttresses are concealed in the walls of the mosque, allowing the walls in between to be pierced with a large number of windows. Sinan's biographies praise the dome for its size and height, which is approximately the same diameter as the Hagia Sophia's main dome; the first time that this had been achieved in Ottoman architecture.


After Sinan

After Sinan, the classical style became less creative and more repetitive by comparison with earlier periods. Davud Agha succeeded Sinan as chief architect. Among his most notable works, all in Istanbul, are the Cerrahpaşa Mosque (1593), the Koca Sinan Pasha Complex on Divanyolu (1593), the Gazanfer Ağa Medrese complex (1596), and the Tomb of Murad III (completed in 1599). Some scholars argue that the Nışançı Mehmed Pasha Mosque (1584–1589), whose architect is unknown, should be attributed to him. Its design is considered highly accomplished and it may be one of the first Ottoman mosques to be fronted by a garden courtyard. The Sultan Ahmed I Mosque, begun in 1609 and completed in 1617, was designed by Sinan's apprentice, Mehmed Agha. The mosque's size, location, and decoration suggest it was intended to be a rival to the nearby Hagia Sophia. Its design essentially repeats that of the Şehzade Mosque. On the outside, Mehmed Agha opted to achieve a "softer" profile with the cascade of domes and the various curving elements, differing from the more dramatic juxtaposition of domes and vertical elements seen in earlier classical mosques by Sinan. It is also the only Ottoman mosque to have as many as six minarets. On the inside, the mosque's lower walls are lavishly decorated with thousands of predominantly blue Iznik tiles; along with the painted decoration on the rest of the walls, this has given the mosque its popular name, the Blue Mosque. After the Sultan Ahmed I Mosque, no further great imperial mosques dedicated to a sultan were built in Istanbul until the mid-18th century. Mosques continued to be built and dedicated to other dynastic family members, but the tradition of sultans building their own monumental mosques lapsed. Some of the best examples of early 17th-century Ottoman architecture are also to be found in Topkapı Palace, at the Revan Kiosk (1635) and Baghdad Kiosk (1639), built by
Murad IV Murad IV (, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; , 27 July 1612 – 8  February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad I ...
to commemorate his victories against the
Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
. Both are small pavilions raised on platforms overlooking the palace gardens. Both are harmoniously decorated on the inside and outside with predominantly blue and white tiles and richly-inlaid window shutters.


Tulip Period (early 18th century)

The historical period known as the Tulip Period or Tulip Era is considered to have begun in 1718, during
Ahmed III Ahmed III (, ''Aḥmed-i sālis''; was sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hacıoğlu Pazarcık, ...
's reign (), and lasted until the Patrona Halil revolts of 1730, when Ahmed III was overthrown. These years of peace inaugurated a new era of growing cross-cultural exchange between the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe. From the 18th century onward, European influences were thus introduced into Ottoman architecture as the Ottoman Empire itself became more open to outside influences. The period saw significant influence from the French
Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
style (part of the wider
Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...
) that emerged around this time under the reign of
Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
. In addition to European influences, the decoration of the Tulip Period was also influenced by Safavid art and architecture to the east. Although the new architectural style that emerged at this time is generally associated with the Tulip Period, constructions from the first years of Ahmed III's reign, such as the so-called Fruit Room created in 1705 within Topkapı Palace, demonstrate that the new style was already in existence by then. One of the most important creations of the Tulip Period was the Sadâbâd Palace, a new summer palace designed and built by Damat Ibrahim Pasha in 1722–1723 for Ahmed III. It was located at Kâğıthane, a rural area on the outskirts of the city with small rivers that flow into the
Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...
inlet. The palace grounds included a long marble-lined canal, the ''Cedval-i Sim'', around which were gardens, pavilions, and palace apartments in a landscaped setting. This overall design probably emulated French pleasure palaces as a result of the reports about Paris and
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
brought back by Ottoman ambassador Yirmisekiz Çelebi Mehmed Efendi. The regular inhabitants of Istanbul also used the surrounding area as a recreational ground for excursions and picnics. This was a new practice in Ottoman culture that brought the public within close proximity of the ruler's abode for the first time. The culmination of the Tulip Period style is represented by a series of monumental stand-alone fountains that were mostly built between 1728 and 1732. Water took on an enlarged role in architecture and the urban landscape of Istanbul during the Tulip Period. In the first half of the 18th century, Istanbul's water supply infrastructure was renovated and expanded. In 1732, an important water distribution structure, the ''taksim'', was first built on what is now Taksim Square. The new fountains were unprecedented in Ottoman architecture. Previously, fountains and sebils only existed as minor elements of larger charitable complexes or as ''shadirvan''s inside mosque courtyards. The '' maidan'' fountain, or a stand-alone fountain at the center of a
city square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rel ...
, was introduced for the first time in this period. The first and most remarkable of these is the Ahmed III Fountain built in 1728 next to the Hagia Sophia and in front of the outer gate of Topkapı Palace. The construction of stand-alone library structures was another new trend influenced by European ideas, as the Ottomans traditionally did not build libraries except as secondary elements attached to religious complexes. The earlier
Köprülü Library Köprülü Library is a library in Istanbul. It was founded by Ottoman Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha in 1678. It was the first public library in the Middle East. The library currently contains 3,790 manuscript volumes. Foundation Located ...
, built in 1678 was the first of its kind, but other early examples date from the reign of Ahmed III during the Tulip Period. One of the few major religious complexes built in this period and one of the last major monuments of the Tulip Period stage in Ottoman architecture is the Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha Mosque complex, completed in 1734–1735 and sponsored by the grand vizier of the same name. This mosque still reflects an overall classical form but the flexible placement of the various components of the complex around a garden enclosure is more reflective of the new changes in tastes. The interior of the mosque is decorated with tiles from the Tekfursaray kilns, which were of lesser quality than those of the earlier Iznik period. One group of tiles is painted with an illustration of the
Great Mosque of Mecca Masjid al-Haram (), also known as the Sacred Mosque or the Great Mosque of Mecca, is considered to be the most significant mosque in Islam. It encloses the vicinity of the Kaaba in Mecca, in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia. It is among the ...
, a decorative detail found in other examples from this era.


Baroque period (18th century to early 19th century)

During the 1740s a new Ottoman or Turkish "Baroque" style emerged in its full expression and rapidly replaced the style of the Tulip Period. This shift signaled the final end to the classical style. The political and cultural conditions which led to the Ottoman Baroque trace their origins in part to the Tulip Period, when the Ottoman ruling class opened itself to
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
influence. After the Tulip Period, Ottoman architecture openly imitated European architecture, so that architectural and decorative trends in Europe were often mirrored in the Ottoman Empire at the same time or after a short delay. Changes were especially evident in the ornamentation and details of new buildings rather than in their overall forms, though new building types were eventually introduced from European influences as well. The term "Turkish Rococo", or simply "Rococo", is also used to describe the Ottoman Baroque, or parts of it, due to the similarities and influences from the French Rococo style in particular, but this terminology varies from author to author. The first structures to exhibit the new Baroque style are several fountains and sebils built by elite patrons in Istanbul in 1741–1742. The most important monument heralding the new Ottoman Baroque style is the
Nuruosmaniye Mosque The Nuruosmaniye Mosque () is an 18th-century Ottoman mosque located in the Çemberlitaş neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey, which was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey in 2016. Designed by a G ...
complex, begun by Mahmud I in October 1748 and completed by his successor, Osman III (to whom it is dedicated), in December 1755. Doğan Kuban describes it as the "most important monumental construction after the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne", marking the integration of European culture into Ottoman architecture and the rejection of the classical Ottoman style. It also marked the first time since the Sultan Ahmed I Mosque (early 17th century) that an Ottoman sultan built his own imperial mosque complex in Istanbul, thus inaugurating the return of this tradition. The Ayazma Mosque in Üsküdar was built between 1757–58 and 1760–61. It is essentially a smaller version of the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, signaling the importance of the latter as a new model to emulate. Although smaller, it is relatively tall for its proportions, enhancing its sense of height. This trend towards height was pursued in later mosques. In Topkapı Palace, the Ottoman sultans and their family continued to build new rooms or remodel old ones throughout the 18th century, introducing Baroque and Rococo decoration in the process. Some examples include the Baths of the Harem section, probably renovated by Mahmud I around 1744, As in the preceding centuries, other palaces were built around Istanbul by the sultan and his family. Previously, the traditional Ottoman palace configuration consisted of different buildings or pavilions arranged in a group, as was the case at Topkapı Palace, the
Edirne Palace Edirne Palace (), or formerly New Imperial Palace (), is a former palace of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultans in Edirne (then known in English as Adrianople), built during the era when the city was the capital of the empire. Few of the palace bu ...
, and others. However, at some time during the 18th century there was a transition to palaces consisting of a single block or single large building. Beyond Istanbul, the greatest palaces were built by powerful local families, but they were often built in regional styles that did not follow the trends of the Ottoman capital. The Azm Palace in Damascus, for example, was built around 1750 in a largely Damascene style. In eastern Anatolia, near present-day
Doğubayazıt Doğubayazıt (; or , ) is a town of Ağrı Province of Turkey, near the Iran–Turkey border, border with Iran. Its elevation is 1625 m. It is the seat of Doğubayazıt District. History For most of the periods described here, Doğubay ...
, the Ishak Pasha Palace is an exceptional and flamboyant piece of architecture that mixes various local traditions including Seljuk Turkish,
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
, and Georgian. It was begun in the 17th century and generally completed by 1784. The Nusretiye Mosque, Mahmud II's imperial mosque, was built between 1822 and 1826 at Tophane. The mosque is the first major imperial work by Krikor Balyan. It is sometimes described as belonging to the Empire style, but is considered by Godfrey Goodwin and Doğan Kuban as one of the last Baroque mosques, while Ünver Rüstem describes the style as moving away from the Baroque and towards an Ottoman interpretation of
Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...
. Goodwin also describes it as the last in a line of imperial mosques that started with the Nuruosmaniye. Despite its relatively small size the mosque's tall proportions creates a sense of height, which may the culmination of a trend that began with the Ayazma Mosque.


19th-century and early 20th-century

During the reign of
Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
(r. 1808–1839) the
Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...
, a Neoclassical style which originated in France under
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
, was introduced into Ottoman architecture. This marked a trend towards increasingly direct imitation of Western styles, particularly from France. The
Tanzimat The (, , lit. 'Reorganization') was a period of liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Driven by reformist statesmen such as Mustafa Reşid Pash ...
reforms that began in 1839 under Abdülmecid I sought to modernize the Ottoman Empire with Western-style reforms. In the architectural realm, this resulted in the dominance of European architects and Ottoman architects with European training. Among these, the Balyans, an Ottoman Armenian family, succeeded in dominating imperial architecture for much of the century. They were joined by European architects such as the Fossati brothers, William James Smith, and
Alexandre Vallaury Alexandre Vallaury (1850–1921) was a France, French-Ottoman Empire, Ottoman architect who established architectural education in the Ottoman Empire at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, School of Fine Arts in Constantinople. Nicknamed "archi ...
. After the early 19th century, Ottoman architecture was characterized by an
eclectic architecture Eclecticism in architecture is a 19th and 20th century architectural style in which a single piece of work incorporates eclecticism, a mixture of elements from previous historical styles to create something that is new and original. In architec ...
which mixed or borrowed from multiple styles. The Balyans, for example, commonly combined Neoclassical or Beaux-arts architecture with highly eclectic decoration. As more Europeans arrived in Istanbul, the neighbourhoods of
Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...
and
Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...
(or Pera) took on very European appearances.A number of mosques built in the 19th century reflect these trends, such as the
Ortaköy Mosque Ortaköy Mosque (), formally the Büyük Mecidiye Camii () in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, is a mosque situated at the waterside of the Ortaköy pier square, one of the most popular locations on the Bosphorus. It was commissioned by the Ottom ...
and the Pertevniyal Valide Mosque in Istanbul. The Tanzimat reforms also granted Christians and Jews the right to freely build new centers of worship, which resulted in new constructions, renovations, and expansions of churches and synagogues. Most of these followed the same eclecticism that prevailed in the rest of Ottoman architecture of the 19th century. Many palaces, residences, and leisure pavilions were built in the 19th century, most of them in the Bosphorus suburbs of Istanbul. The most significant is the
Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( ) is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922. Histor ...
, constructed for Sultan Abdülmecit between 1843 and 1856. It replaced the Topkapı Palace as the official imperial residence of the sultan. The palace consists mainly of a single building with monumental proportions, which represented a radical rejection of traditional Ottoman palace design. The style of the palace is fundamentally Neoclassical but is characterized by a highly eclectic decoration that mixes Baroque motifs with other styles. Various new types of monuments were also introduced to Ottoman architecture during this era. For example, clock towers rose to prominence over the 19th century. The construction of railway stations was a feature of Ottoman modernisation reflecting the new infrastructure changes within the empire. The most famous example is the Sirkeci Railway Station, built in 1888–1890 as the terminus of the
Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, w ...
. It was designed in an Orientalist style by
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
architect August Jasmund (also spelled "Jachmund"). In the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Parisian-style shopping arcades appeared in the 19th century. Some consisted of a small courtyard filled with shops and surrounded by buildings, while others were simply a passage or alley (''pasaj'' in Turkish) lined with shops, sometimes covered by a glass roof. Other commercial building types that appeared in the late 19th century included hotels and banks. A local interpretation of Orientalist fashion steadily arose in the late 19th century, initially used by European architects such as Vallaury. This trend combined "neo-Ottoman" motifs with other motifs from wider Islamic architecture. The eclecticism and European imports of the 19th century eventually led to the introduction of Art Nouveau, especially after the arrival of Raimondo D'Aronco in the late 19th century. D'Aronco came at the invitation of Sultan Abdülhamid II and served as chief court architect between 1896 and 1909. Istanbul became a new center of Art Nouveau and a local flavour of the style developed. The new style was most prevalent in the new apartment buildings being built in Istanbul at the time. The final period of architecture in the Ottoman Empire developed after 1900 and in particular after the
Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...
took power in 1908–1909, in what was then called the "National Architectural Renaissance" and since referred to as the First national architectural movement of Turkish architecture. The approach in this period was an Ottoman Revival style, a reaction to influences in the previous 200 years that had come to be considered "foreign", such as Baroque and Neoclassical architecture, and was intended to promote Ottoman patriotism and self-identity. This was related to earlier Ottoman architecture in rather the same manner as other roughly contemporaneous revivalist architectures related to their stylistic inspirations. New government-run institutions that trained architects and engineers, established in the late 19th century and further centralized under the Young Turks, became instrumental in disseminating this "national style".


Domes

The dome was a paramount feature of Ottoman architecture for most of its history. In religious architecture, the dome and the integration of the interior with the central domed space could be a symbol for the "oneness of God" (''
tawhid ''Tawhid'' () is the concept of monotheism in Islam, it is the religion's central and single most important concept upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (''ahad'') and s ...
''). Especially after Sinan, the design of monumental Ottoman buildings was conceptualized with the central dome above as its starting point, rather than the floor plan being conceived first and the roofing system after. Under Sinan, the core of the design was more specifically the domed baldaquin, which is to say the dome and its basic structural support system: a set of pillars or buttresses in a square, hexagonal, or octagonal configuration – involving four, six, or eight pillars, respectively. Thanks to the influence of the Hagia Sophia and early Ottoman mosque designs, the central dome was often accompanied with semi-domes and the transition from the base of the dome to the space below was typically accomplished through
pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to point ...
s. The focus on the central dome also led Ottoman architects to emphasize verticality in their designs. The dome itself remained geometrically simple in Ottoman architecture. While many different types of domes had previously developed in Islamic architecture and while contemporary European architecture experimented with ostentatious dome constructions, Ottoman architects consistently used simple hemispheric domes. Sinan knew of double-shelled domes, which were used in earlier Islamic architecture, and he employed them in the Mausoleum of Suleiman and in multiple other mausoleums. Nonetheless, they were not the norm and the Ottomans more regularly used single-shelled domes in almost every context. For example, the huge dome of Sinan's masterpiece, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, is a single-shelled construction. When double-shelled domes were used, the outer and inner shells had the same shape, thus maintaining the same profile on the outside as on the inside. Ottoman domes were not raised on prominent
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
, unlike their Byzantine predecessors, but their outer edge usually rested on a circle of alternating buttresses and windows. Since the early Ottoman period, domes were usually built with brick, a relatively light material that was thus convenient for this purpose. This remained the usual practice even after stone replaced brick as the main material for walls after the early period. Wood was used for the
centring Centring, centre, centering"Centering 2, Centring 2" def. 1. Whitney, William Dwight, and Benjamin E. Smith. ''The Century dictionary and cyclopedia''. vol. 2. New York: Century Co., 1901. p. 885., or center is a type of falsework: the temporary s ...
during construction. On the outside, early domes were commonly covered with terracotta tiles but by the 16th century they were generally covered with lead.


Decoration


Tile decoration

Glazed tile decoration in the '' cuerda seca'' technique was used in early Ottoman monuments. The most extensive example is the Green Mosque and the associated Green Tomb in Bursa (early 15th century). The tiles of the Green Mosque complex generally have a deep green ground mixed with combinations of blue, white, and yellow forming
arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ...
motifs. A large portion of the tiles are cut into hexagonal and triangular shapes that were then fitted together to form murals. Some of the tiles are further enhanced with arabesque motifs applied in gilt gold glazing over the other colours. The artistic style of these tiles – and of other early Ottoman art – was influenced by an "International Timurid" taste that emerged from the intense artistic patronage of the Timurids, who controlled a large empire across the Middle East and Central Asia. The same kind of tilework is found in the mihrab of the Murad II Mosque in Edirne, completed in 1435, along with the first examples of a new technique with
underglaze Underglaze is a method of decorating pottery in which painted decoration is applied to the surface before it is covered with a transparent ceramic glaze and fired in a kiln. Because the glaze subsequently covers it, such decoration is completely ...
blue on a white background, with touches of turquoise. The motifs on these tiles include lotuses and
camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in East Asia, eastern and South Asia, southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are ...
-like flowers on spiral stems. These
chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...
-like motifs, along with the focus on blue and white colours, most likely reflect an influence from contemporary
Chinese porcelain Chinese ceramics are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. They range from construction materials such as bricks and tiles, to hand-built pottery vessels fired in bonfires or kilns, to the sophisticated Chinese ...
– although the evidence for Chinese porcelain reaching Edirne at this time is unclear. Another stage in Ottoman tiles is evident in the surviving tiles of the
Fatih Mosque The Fatih Mosque (, "Conqueror's Mosque" in English language, English) is an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman mosque off Fevzi Paşa Caddesi in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The original mosque was constructed between 1463 and 1470 on the site ...
(1463–70) and in the Selim I Mosque (1520–22). In these mosques the windows are topped by
lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...
s filled with ''cuerda seca'' tiles with motifs in green, turquoise,
cobalt blue Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sintering cobalt(II) oxide with aluminium(III) oxide (alumina) at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighte ...
, and yellow. Chinese motifs such as dragons and clouds also appear for the first time on similar tiles in Selim I's tomb, built behind his mosque in 1523. A more extravagant example of this type of tilework can be found inside the tomb of
Şehzade Mehmed Şehzade Mehmed (; 1521 – 7 November 1543) was an Ottoman prince, son of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Roxelana, Hürrem Sultan. He served as governor of Manisa. Early life Şehzade Mehmed was born in 1521 in the Old Palace, d ...
in the cemetery of the
Şehzade Mosque The Şehzade Mosque () is a 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque located in the district of Fatih, on the third hill of Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent as a memorial to his son Şehzade Mehmed who died in 1543 ...
(1548). In the late 15th century, in the 1470s or 1480s, the ceramic industry in the city of İznik was growing and began producing a new "blue-and-white" fritware which adapted and incorporated Chinese motifs in its decoration. The most extraordinary tile panels from this stage of Ottoman ceramic art are a series of panels on the exterior of Circumcision Pavilion (''Sünnet Odası'') in Topkapı Palace. At least some of these tiles are believed to date from the 1520s and feature large floral motifs in blue, white, and turquoise. They exemplify the advent of the ''saz'' style: a motif in which a variety of flowers are attached to gracefully curving stems with serrated leaves, appearing in the 16th century. This continued to reflect earlier influences of the "International Timurid" style, but it also demonstrates the development of an increasingly distinct Ottoman artistic style at this time. The architect
Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan (; , ; – 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 Empire, Ottoman architect, engineer and mathematician for sultans Suleiman ...
generally used tile decoration in a fairly restrained manner and seems to have preferred focusing on the architecture as a whole rather than on overwhelming decoration. An exception to this austerity is the extensive tilework in the Rüstem Pasha Mosque (1561–62), which also marks the beginning of the artistic peak of Iznik ceramic art from the 1560s onward. Blue colours predominate, but the important "tomato red" colour began to make an appearance. The repertoire of motifs includes
tulip Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...
s, hyacinths, carnations,
rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...
s,
pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...
s,
artichoke The artichoke (''Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus''),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the other names: French artichoke, globe artichoke, ...
leaves, narcissus, and Chinese "cloud" motifs. In the early 17th century, some features of 16th-century Iznik art began to fade, such as the use of embossed tomato red. At the same time, some motifs became more rigidly geometric and stylized. Production was pushed to the limit for the enormous
Sultan Ahmed Mosque The Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today. It al ...
(or "Blue Mosque"), begun in 1609 and inaugurated in 1617, which contains the richest collection of tilework of any Ottoman mosque. According to official Ottoman documents it contained as many as 20,000 tiles. While the craftsmen at Iznik were still capable of producing rich and colourful tiles throughout the 17th century, there was an overall decline in quality, caused in part by the devastation of the Celali revolts and by an overall decline in commissions. Some of the production continued in the city of
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 ...
instead of Iznik. Tile manufacture declined still further in the second half of the century. By this period, blue and turquoise colours increasingly predominated, and many commissioned works limited their patterns to single tiles instead of creating larger patterns across multiple tiles. Tile production in Iznik came to an end in the 18th century. The shortage of quality tiles in the 18th century caused Iznik tiles from older buildings to be reused and moved to new ones on multiple occasions. Ahmet III and his grand vizier attempted to revive the tile industry by establishing a new workshop between 1719 and 1724 at Tekfursaray in Istanbul. Production continued here for a while but the quality was not comparable to earlier Iznik tiles. Pottery production also continued and even increased at Kütahya, where new styles developed alongside imitations of older classical Ottoman designs. The colours of tiles in this period were mostly turquoise and dark cobalt blue, while a brownish-red, yellow, and a deep green also appearing. The background was often discoloured, colours often ran together slightly, and the patterns were typically limited to single tiles. The Tekfursaray kilns ceased to function after the Patrona Halil rebellion in 1730, which deposed Ahmet III. Ultimately, tilework decoration in Ottoman architecture lost its significance during this century.


Painted decoration

Painted decoration was an essential part of the decoration of Ottoman buildings, covering interior walls, ceilings, and domes. However, very little original painted decoration has been preserved in Ottoman buildings, as they were frequently repainted during later restorations. Paint, as well as
gold leaf upA gold nugget of 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter (bottom) can be expanded through hammering into a gold foil of about 0.5 m2 (5.4 sq ft). The Japan.html" ;"title="Toi gold mine museum, Japan">Toi gold mine museum, Japan. Gold leaf is gold that has ...
, was applied on a variety of mediums including plaster, wood, leather or cloth, and stone. For plaster decoration, there were generally two types: and . The first refers to paint being applied directly to plaster, while the second referred to applying paint onto
relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
decoration sculpted beforehand. The design of the ornamentation was often stenciled onto the plaster first, using paper pierced with pin holes in the shape of the motifs, over which coal dust was rubbed to leave outlines on the walls that were then painted. The motifs of painted decoration were typically similar to those used in other contemporary arts, such as
manuscript illumination An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers and liturgical books such as psalters and ...
. Early examples indicate that Ottoman decoration developed a preference for floriate motifs. One such motif that was popular throughout the history of Ottoman art is the ''rumî'' style, whose existence predates the Ottomans and which consists of scrolling, spiraling, and/or intertwining stems with stylized leaves. Another floriate style that appeared in Ottoman decoration from the 15th century onward is ''hatayî'', which consists in large part of peonies and leaves shown in varying stages of budding and blooming. This style had its origins further east in China or
Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...
and it appeared in
Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
from the 13th century onward. One of the most important examples of early Ottoman painted decoration is the partially-preserved
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
decoration inside the Murad II Mosque in Edirne, which still dates back to its construction circa 1436. The ornamentation inside the southeastern (qibla) iwan depicts natural landscapes with stylized flowers and trees that appear to reflect the same artistic styles used in book illustrations and miniatures, particularly those from the
Timurid Empire The Timurid Empire was a late medieval, culturally Persianate, Turco-Mongol empire that dominated Greater Iran in the early 15th century, comprising modern-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and parts of co ...
further east. In the second quarter of the 16th century, the ''saz'' style (also mentioned above for tile decoration) was developed by Ottoman artist
Şahkulu Şahkulu (; 1500–1511), also known as Şahkulu Baba, or Karabıyıkoğlu ( 'son of black moustache' in Turkish), was the leader of the pro-Shia and pro-Safavid uprising in Anatolia – the Şahkulu Rebellion – directed against the Ottoman ...
. It was derived from the ''hatayî'' style and added new motifs, most notably large serrated leaves. It was less formal and geometrically rigid, allowing these motifs to be combined and arranged in a wide variety of ways to fill any space. The most monumental painted compositions were employed in and around the domes and semi-domes of Ottoman buildings. For much of the Ottoman era, domes were typically decorated with a circular
medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...
-like composition at the center of the dome that was filled with a calligraphic rendition of Qur'anic verses. The motif of the central medallion radiated outward to cover the rest of the dome, with the details filled by ''rumî'', ''hatayî'', or ''saz'' motifs. This type of dome decoration is well-known from the 16th century onward but it probably had appeared earlier in the 15th century as well. In the later 17th century, painted decoration underwent a gradual shift in style that can be attributed to European influence. Among other trends,
shading Shading refers to the depiction of depth perception in 3D models (within the field of 3D computer graphics) or illustrations (in visual art) by varying the level of darkness. Shading tries to approximate local behavior of light on the object's ...
was introduced to what had previously been areas of flat colour. This was evident not only in new buildings but also in older buildings whose decoration was redone after this period. In some of the latter cases, the traditional designs were retained during restoration but they were updated to include shading. Around the same time (in the second half of the 17th century), a new style known as ''Edirnekārī'' began to appear. It primarily depicted flowers, a traditional Ottoman motif, but with an increased level of naturalism not previously seen in Ottoman art. The reign of Ahmet III (), which include the years of the Tulip Period (1718–1730), saw the popularization of a style derived from this, featuring plentiful depictions of flowers in vases and bowls of fruit, sometimes with shading. The most vivid example of this is the so-called Fruit Room, created by Ahmet III inside Topkapı Palace in 1705. This new style remained popular until the end of the century. The advent of the Ottoman Baroque architectural style in the 1740s also brought new motifs of European origin or influence. By the end of the 18th century, European influence continued to grow and the new repertoire of motifs included
garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...
s, ribbons, flower bouquets, and baskets of roses. Decoration could now be painted to appear three-dimensional, adding a new visual effect even when otherwise traditional motifs were used. The ''
trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...
'' technique was also introduced, particularly during the reign of
Abdülmecid I Abdülmecid I (, ; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the rise of nationalist movements within the empire's territories. Abdülmecid's ...
(). Examples from this period can be seen inside the
Ortaköy Mosque Ortaköy Mosque (), formally the Büyük Mecidiye Camii () in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, is a mosque situated at the waterside of the Ortaköy pier square, one of the most popular locations on the Bosphorus. It was commissioned by the Ottom ...
(1850s) and in the
Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( ) is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922. Histor ...
(1843–1856).


Stone carving

Compared to the Anatolian Seljuk architecture that came before it, Ottoman architecture treated stone carving as a less important decorative medium. In the early Ottoman period, an exception to this paucity of traditional stone carving is the Green Mosque in Bursa, which features skilled carving of marble surfaces into vegetal arabesque and calligraphic motifs. This was generally not repeated in subsequent Ottoman monuments, with the partial exception 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". ...
s. Nonetheless, high-quality stone carving was still used to enrich the details of buildings throughout the Ottoman period, particularly for entrance portals, minaret balconies, niches, column capitals, and moldings. One of the main decorative techniques in this medium was
muqarnas Muqarnas (), also known in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe (from ), is a form of three-dimensional decoration in Islamic architecture in which rows or tiers of niche-like elements are projected over others below. It is an archetypal form of I ...
(or "stalactite") carving, which is used in all of these aforementioned elements. Since the Seljuk era, muqarnas semi-vaults had been a typical feature of entrance portals and mihrabs, and this tradition continued in Ottoman mosques.In the early 18th century, around the Tulip Period, diverse new floral motifs were added to the decorative repertoire of buildings. These can be found in carved reliefs, employed most prolifically on the façades of fountains and sebils, which became common types of monuments commissioned during this century. The motifs include flowers, fruits, garlands, and rosettes, as well as designs developed from the ''hatayî'' style previously used for painted decoration. With the advent of the Ottoman Baroque in the 18th century, Ottoman stone carving borrowed motifs directly from the relief ornamentation in French
Rococo architecture Rococo architecture, prevalent during the reign of Louis XV in France from 1715 to 1774, is an exceptionally ornamental and exuberant architectural style characterized by the use of rocaille motifs such as shells, curves, Mascaron (architecture), ...
, including acanthus leaves, shells, baroque moldings, and mixtilinear arch forms. Although many novelties were introduced, one traditional feature that continued throughout this period were the calligraphic inscriptions placed in panels over gates, in friezes, and in other prominent locations.


Gardens

Ottoman gardens were relatively informal and tended to accommodate natural topography, unlike gardens in many other parts of the Islamic world – such as Iran or South Asia – where a more formal design was preferred with a symmetrical four-part division or other geometric layout. Gardens could be planted with large trees for shade, smaller
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...
trees, and flowerbeds.
Tulips Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different coloure ...
were favored for flowers, even more so in the Tulip Period during the reign of Sultan Ahmet III (r. 1703–1730).


Palaces and leisure gardens

Exemplifying this Ottoman trend, the gardens in
Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...
were laid out according to the existing topography and emphasized naturalism over geometry. Some were organized as formal gardens whereas others took the appearance of semi-natural parks, with some sections consisting of formal
parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, plats, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the ...
s that were then placed inside larger informal garden areas. Sultan Suleyman was a lover of gardens and employed some 2,500 gardeners to tend to roses, cypresses, and other flowering plants in the palace grounds. Ahmet III had a tulip garden planted in the Fourth Court of the palace, just outside the Circumcision Room. One documented exception to the general trend of informal design was the Karabali Garden, laid out in the early 16th century in Kabataş (a district of Istanbul). It had four symmetrical quadrants divided by axial paths, making it an uncommon example of the '' chahar bagh''-type garden in an Ottoman context. Garden pavilions were a common feature of palaces and private gardens, designed to provide shelter for residents and visitors as they enjoyed views of the gardens. They are depicted in many
Ottoman miniature Ottoman miniature ( Turkish: ''Osmanlı minyatürü'') is a style of illustration found in Ottoman manuscripts, often depicting portraits or historic events. Its unique style was developed from multiple cultural influences, such as the Persian ...
paintings. They were often simple open kiosks with arches or columns supporting a sloped roof, but there were also more monumental tower-pavilions such as the Tower of Justice in Topkapı Palace or the Cihannüma in the
Edirne Palace Edirne Palace (), or formerly New Imperial Palace (), is a former palace of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultans in Edirne (then known in English as Adrianople), built during the era when the city was the capital of the empire. Few of the palace bu ...
. Ottoman sultans and elites built many other palaces, leisure kiosks, and estates, especially along the shores of the
Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...
and the
Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
around Istanbul. An illustration of the Bosphorus from 1738–9 shows many walled gardens lining both of its shores. These waterside palaces often had one side overlooking the water and the other side overlooking gardens. The Topkapı-style tradition of a sprawling palace with multiple pavilions amidst gardens made a comeback in the late 19th century when Sultan
Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...
(r. 1876–1909) moved his residence to the new
Yıldız Palace Yıldız Palace (, ) is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman Empire, Ottoman pavilions and villas in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the List of sultans of the Ottoman ...
, which is set inside a large park area on the slopes overlooking the Bosphorus.


Mosques and cemeteries

Large Ottoman '' küllliye'' complexes, which consisted of a mosque with other charitable and religious buildings around it, were often set inside an outer enclosure. The grounds and common spaces of these enclosures were planted with grass and trees, around which the various structures were organized. Some Ottoman mosques in Istanbul also had trees planted inside their courtyards. At the
Fatih Mosque The Fatih Mosque (, "Conqueror's Mosque" in English language, English) is an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman mosque off Fevzi Paşa Caddesi in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The original mosque was constructed between 1463 and 1470 on the site ...
, the courtyard once contained four
cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs from the ''Cupressus'' genus of the '' Cupressaceae'' family, typically found in temperate climates and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. The word ''cypress'' ...
trees planted around a central fountain, a composition likely originating from the now-vanished atrium of the
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...
, which featured the same arrangement. A late 18th-century illustration of the
Süleymaniye Mosque The Süleymaniye Mosque (, ) is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Seven hills of Istanbul, Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent () and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An ...
also indicates the presence of trees in its courtyard. According to Godfrey Goodwin, the first mosque to have a courtyard filled with a garden may be either the Mesih Mehmed Pasha Mosque or the Nışançı Mehmed Pasha Mosque, both built in the same neighborhood around 1585. In Ottoman society, cemeteries and places of burial were usually gardens. Cypress trees were a common presence in this context as well. Many Ottoman mosques were accompanied by garden-cemeteries. At the Fatih and Süleymaniye mosques, these garden-cemeteries are set behind 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 of the mosque and contain the mausoleum of the sultan who founded the mosque, along with other burials. The cemeteries were planted with trees and flowers but the graves themselves may have also been imagined as miniature gardens, since they contain small plots laid out for planting and some of the tombstones even have holes to anchor vines.


Architecture in the provinces

The main developments in Ottoman architecture generally took place in the capital cities (Bursa, Edirne, Istanbul) and other major administrative centers that were closely associated with the Ottoman dynasty, where imperial patronage was most concentrated. Beyond these imperial centers, Ottoman provincial governors and other local elites sponsored their own constructions, but the architectural style of these buildings varied depending on local context. In Europe (
Rumelia Rumelia (; ; ) was a historical region in Southeastern Europe that was administered by the Ottoman Empire, roughly corresponding to the Balkans. In its wider sense, it was used to refer to all Ottoman possessions and Vassal state, vassals in E ...
) and in western
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, Ottoman constructions mostly imitated the trends of the capital, though there were still local variations and eccentricities. In the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
, the reign of
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 ...
( with brief interruption) saw many renovations of early Ottoman buildings and also the construction of multiple new mosques and civic or religious complexes. Nearly all the other important Ottoman monuments in the European provinces beyond Istanbul and Edirne date from the 16th and 17th centuries. Building activity was particularly intense in the 16th century, even surpassing that of Anatolia, but it declined over the course of the 17th century.
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...
,
Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...
,
Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
,
Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...
and
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
were among the most important cities in the region and their Ottoman monuments often reflect a classical style. As in many other provincial areas of the empire, mosques in the Balkans generally consisted of the single-dome type with one minaret, though some were also built with sloped wooden roofs instead. In other regions which had been
Islamized The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...
long before the Ottomans, local Islamic architectural traditions were not easily displaced and remained highly relevant in the construction of new buildings. In
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and the Syrian region, the Mamluk architectural style that existed before the Ottoman conquest of 1516–1517 was largely continued while incorporating elements and ideas of Ottoman architecture to varying degrees. The regions along the edges of Anatolia, Syria, and
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
(around southeastern Turkey today) also resisted assimilation to the culture of the Ottoman capital and continued to be strongly influenced by local styles. For example, Diyarbakir, Van, and
Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...
were important regional centers that retained or developed their own local architectural styles. Further afield in North Africa, particularly in
Ottoman Algeria The Regency of Algiers was an early modern semi-independent Ottoman province and nominal vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Africa from 1516 to 1830. Founded by the privateer brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Reis (also known as the Barb ...
and
Ottoman Tunisia Ottoman Tunisia, also known as the Regency of Tunis, refers to a territory of Ottoman Empire that existed from the 16th to 19th century in what is largely modern-day Tunisia. During the period of Ottoman Rule, Tunis was administratively inte ...
, which were autonomous for much of the Ottoman era, the local western Islamic style was blended with Ottoman architecture in different ways. In
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, Ottoman-era mosques were built almost entirely according to local traditions.


See also

* List of mosques commissioned by the Ottoman dynasty * List of Ottoman palaces in Istanbul *
Ottoman tents Ottoman tents were fabric architectural structures used by the Ottoman Empire. they could be transported and erected anywhere, from the battlefield to Palace, palatial gardens. These portable structures served as everything from simple soldiers' t ...
* Clock towers in Turkey *
List of Ottoman domes This is a list of domes in Ottoman architecture. Domes See also * List of world's largest domes *Ottoman architecture Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the Ottoman Empire over a long perio ...
*
Architecture of Turkey The architecture of Turkey includes heritage from the ancient era of Anatolia to the present day. Significant remains from the Greco-Roman period are located throughout the country. The Byzantine period produced, among other monuments, the ce ...
* Ajyad Fortress


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


Turkish Architecture

A look at the traditional Ottoman houses of Turkey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottoman Architecture Medieval architecture Architectural styles Islamic architecture Architecture in Turkey 14th-century architecture 15th-century architecture 16th-century architecture 17th-century architecture 18th-century architectural styles 19th-century architecture 20th-century architecture