Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque
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The Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque, also known as the Aksaray Valide Mosque ( tr, Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Camii, Aksaray Valide Sultan Camii), is a grand
Ottoman imperial mosque The list below contains some of the most important mosques in modern-day Turkey that were commissioned by the members of Ottoman dynasty, Ottoman imperial family. Some of these major mosques are also known as a selatin mosque, imperial mosque, or ...
in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. It is located at the intersection of Ordu Street and Atatürk Boulevard in the
Aksaray Aksaray (, Koine Greek: Ἀρχελαΐς ''Arhelays'', Medieval Greek: Κολώνεια ''Koloneya'', Ancient Greek: Γαρσάουρα ''Garsaura'') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the ca ...
neighborhood beside the Pertevniyal High School (Turkish: ''Pertevniyal Lisesi'') which was also built by the order of Sultana Pertevniyal in 1872. The mosque attracts 400-500 worshipers during prayer times and over 2,500 worshipers during prayer on Fridays. The mosque's location was regarded as important to the
Valide Sultan #REDIRECT Valide sultan #REDIRECT Valide sultan {{redirect category shell, {{R from move{{R from miscapitalization{{R unprintworthy ...
{{redirect category shell, {{R from move{{R from miscapitalization{{R unprintworthy ...
and royal family, as
Aksaray Aksaray (, Koine Greek: Ἀρχελαΐς ''Arhelays'', Medieval Greek: Κολώνεια ''Koloneya'', Ancient Greek: Γαρσάουρα ''Garsaura'') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the ca ...
was a vital commercial center during the Ottoman period. At the time what is now a busy pedestrian thoroughfare was known for its overwhelming beauty, with plentiful gardens and orchards.


History

One of the last mosques built in Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire, the Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque was created for
Pertevniyal Sultan ota, پرتو نهال سلطان , birth_name = , birth_date = 1810 ¿Romania, Circassia or Kurdistan? , birth_place = , death_date = , death_place = Ortaköy Palace, Ortaköy, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (present day Istanbu ...
, wife of Sultan
Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
and mother of Sultan
Abdülaziz Abdulaziz ( ota, عبد العزيز, ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; tr, Abdülaziz; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the 32nd List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 187 ...
. It was probably designed by Sarkis Bey of the Ottoman Armenian Balyan family of architects. Construction began in November 1869, and the mosque was finished in 1871. An inscription above the gate leading to the courtyard gives the date. Other documents indicate that the foundations were created during different ceremonies in Sha'ban 1285/ November 1869. Pertevniyal Sultan died in 1884, thirteen years after the completion of the mosque, and was then buried within it. The construction took three years to complete. After numerous local roadworks, the mosque - approached via a grand gateway adorned with fountains - is now below the level of the surrounding streets. The mosque was cleaned and restored in the 2010s.


Architecture

The building is an example of Turkish
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
with dollops of classical Ottoman, Moorish, Turkish,
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, and Empire styles. Some regarded the mishmash of styles as garish and short on classical Ottoman grandeur. The use of different elements shows the influence of the eclectic viewpoint common in the late Ottoman era. The design also seems to draw influences from Indian, North African, and Andalusian architecture. It can be seen as a sign of the emerging power of Ottoman women, as the mosque is named after Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, a member of the royal family.


Exterior

The mosque is the focal point of a complex that includes a tomb,
sebil A sebil or sabil ( ar, سبيل, sabīl ; Turkish: ''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 ...
, fountain, time-keeper's room, library, and
medrese Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
. The mosque itself follows the traditional plan with a square prayer-hall that measures 10 m x 10 m, and a single dome. ThIs is separated from the walls and brought inward while being supported on a tall, 12-sided drum. Directly in front of the prayer hall is the
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 cult ...
where latecomers could pray and the
sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
's loge. The mosque's east, west and south façades are all embedded with turrets and the outward-facing projections of their central sections are each capped with a triangular
pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...
. Each piece of the pediment has two rows with three windows as its featured design.


Interior

The interior is elaborately decorated with much use made of blue colouring. There are many classical Ottoman details on the walls including
blind niche A niche (CanE, or ) in Classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea (AD 64–69) was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms th ...
s,
muqarnas Muqarnas ( ar, مقرنص; fa, مقرنس), also known in Iranian architecture as Ahoopāy ( fa, آهوپای) and in Iberian architecture as Mocárabe, is a form of ornamented vaulting in Islamic architecture. It is the archetypal form of I ...
, arch motifs,
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 "Foli ...
s, and Chinese-inspired floral arrangements. The interior also features a plain marble
mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
and
minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...
. The tomb of Sultana Pertevniyal was located in the central mosque.


Architect(s)

Some believe the mosque was designed by Montani Effendi while others believe it to have been created by
Sarkis Balyan The Balyan family ( hy, Պալեաններ; tr, Balyan ailesi or ''Palyan ailesi'') was a prominent Armenian family in the Ottoman Empire consisting of court architects in the service of Ottoman sultans and other members of the Ottoman dyna ...
. Agop Balyan and Osep may also have had a hand in the design and construction of the mosque. The World Digital Library suggests it was designed by the Turkish Armenian architect
Hakob Balyan Hakop ( hy, Հակոբ in Eastern Armenian, pronounced ''hakob'' or in Western Armenian, pronounced ''hagop'' is a common Armenian first name. It is the Armenian version of he, יַעֲקֹב, Standard ''Yaʿaqob'' Tiberian ''Yaʿăqō ...
.


Modifications

In the year AH 1328/ AD 1911, the medrese of the Pertevniyal Valide Sultain Mosque complex burned down. The time-keeper's room, the sebil, and the tomb were removed during the renovation of Aksaray Square (1956–1959). Parts of the tomb were relocated to the graveyard beside the tomb of Sultan Selim III. Eventually the Valide Sultan's tomb was reconstructed from pieces of the original. Her body was relocated first to the
Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) i ...
, then to the tomb of Sultan
Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
, and finally to her own tomb. The
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
was eventually demolished in 1958.


Mentions

A photo-chrome print of the Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque is featured in the “Views of People and Sites in Turkey” from the catalog of the Detroit Publishing Company. The Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque is mentioned in ''The Architects of Ottoman Constantinople: The Balyan Family and the History of Ottoman Architecture'' by Alyson Wharton. The mosque is mentioned in "''RE-THINKING HISTORIOGRAPHY ON OTTOMAN MOSQUE ARCHITECTURE:NINETEENTH CENTURY PROVINCIAL SULTAN MOSQUES; A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY''" by Ceren Katipoğlu Özmen. The mosque is featured in the Museum with No Frontiers.


See also

*
Ottoman architecture Ottoman architecture is the architectural style that developed under the Ottoman Empire. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century and developed from earlier Seljuk architecture, Seljuk Turkish architecture, with influen ...
*
List of mosques This is an incomplete list of some of the more famous mosques around the world. List See also * Islamic architecture * List of largest mosques * List of the oldest mosques in the world ** List of mosques that are mentioned by name in the Q ...


Gallery

Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Camii, Aksaray, Constantinople, Turkey-LCCN2001699439.jpg, Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque, around 1890-1900 Istanbul asv2021-11 img29 Aksaray PVS Mosque.jpg, Entrance gate Istanbul asv2021-11 img30 Aksaray PVS Mosque.jpg, Interior view Istanbul asv2021-11 img31 Aksaray PVS Mosque.jpg,
Minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...
Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque 6618.jpg, Top of minbar Istanbul asv2021-11 img32 Aksaray PVS Mosque.jpg, Dome interior Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque 6614.jpg, Interior towards entrance Pertevniyal_Valide_Sultan_Mosque.jpg, Dome Interior


Notes


References

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External links


Many pictures of this mosque
{{Authority control Ottoman mosques in Istanbul Mosques completed in 1872 19th-century mosques Fatih