
The Bayezid II Mosque () is an early 16th-century
Ottoman imperial mosque located in
Beyazıt Square in
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 ...
,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, near the ruins of the
Forum of Theodosius
The Forum of Theodosius (, today Beyazıt Square) was probably the largest square in Constantinople and stood on the Mese, the major road that ran west from Hagia Sophia ( Turkish: Ayasofya). It was originally built by Constantine I and named t ...
of ancient
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 ...
.
History
The Beyazid Mosque was commissioned by
the Ottoman Sultan
Sultan (; ', ) 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 came to be use ...
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 ...
, and was the second large imperial mosque complex (or
selatin mosque) to be erected in Istanbul after the
conquest
Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
in 1453. The earlier imperial complex, 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 ...
, was later destroyed by
earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
s and completely rebuilt in a different style. As a result, the Beyazid complex is the oldest imperial complex in Istanbul that is preserved in more or less its original form, making it of considerable historical and architectural significance.
[Freely, ''Blue Guide Istanbul'' pp. 151–153]
The mosque was constructed between 1500 and 1505, with 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 ...
'' (religious and charitable complex) added immediately afterwards.
This included a ''
medrese
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 ...
'' (theological college), completed in 1507; a large
''hamam'' (bathhouse), completed some time before 1507; an ''
imaret'' (
soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to Hunger, hungry and homeless people, usually for no price, cost, or sometimes at a below-market price (such as coin Donation, donations). Frequently located in Low i ...
); 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 ...
; and several
mausolea including the ''
türbe
''Türbe'' refers to a Muslim mausoleum, tomb or grave often in the Turkish-speaking areas and for the mausolea of Ottoman sultans, nobles and notables. A typical türbe is located in the grounds of a mosque or complex, often endowed by the ...
'' of Bayezid II himself.
The chief architect of the mosque is not directly known. Based on Ottoman documents that mention architects during Bayezit II's reign, 20th-century scholar Rıfkı Melül Meriç identified Yakubşah ibn Islamşah as the most likely architect. One of Yakubşah's assistants, Yusuf ibn Papas, finished off the work on the ''medrese''.
That the architect was a nephew of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
architect 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 ...
(
Atik Sinan or Christodoulos), is known from a grant of Bayezid II.
[Van Millingen, Alexander (1912). Byzantine Churches of Constantinople. London: MacMillan & Co., p. 276.] This grant confirms the endowment by
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, ...
of the Greek Orthodox
Church of Saint Mary of the Mongols, the only church in Istanbul that was never converted into a mosque, to the mother of Christodoulos (the Bayezid II Mosque's architect's grandmother) in acknowledgment of the two architects' work.
Little else is known about Yakubşah ibn Islamşah other than that he also built a caravansarai in
Bursa
Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...
. However, the polished style of the mosque suggests experience with earlier Ottoman and western architectural techniques.
In 19th-century and early 20th-century accounts of the city it is often referred to as "the Pigeon Mosque" because of the large number of birds that congregated nearby to be fed by worshippers.
Damage and restoration work
The dome was partially rebuilt after an
earthquake in 1509,
and
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 ...
conducted further repairs in 1573–74.
The
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 were burned separately by fires in 1683 and 1754. They were also damaged by a lightning strike in 1743. A document dated October 1754 states that a special type of stone was brought from
Karamürsel
Karamürsel is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 262 km2, and its population is 59,676 (2022). It is on the south coast of the Gulf of İzmit. Before its conquest by the Ottoman Empire, ...
to repair the mosque.
An inscription above the courtyard entrance suggests that repairs were also carried out in 1767 as a result of
the earthquake which struck Istanbul in 1766.
Extensive new restoration work was started in August 2012 and took eight years to complete. During the process inappropriate materials used during previous repairs were removed, and damaged materials were either cleaned or replaced. The restoration involved a team of approximately 150 people and cost 49 million
Turkish lira
The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...
s (approximately US $7.2 million). The mosque was reopened for worship in 2020.
Architecture
Exterior
The mosque is oriented along the northwest-southeast axis with a courtyard to the northwest with an area almost equal to that of the mosque itself. The courtyard has monumental entrance portals on three sides and is surrounded by a colonnaded
peristyle
In ancient Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture, a peristyle (; ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. ''Tetrastoön'' () is a rare ...
supported by twenty columns. Two of the columns are made of
porphyry, ten are of
verd antique, and six are of pink
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
.
It is roofed with 24 small domes and has a pavement of polychrome
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
.
The mosque itself is square measuring approximately per side and its dome is approximately in diameter.
The central dome is supported by two
semi-domes along the main axis and two arches running along the secondary axis. The mosque is constructed entirely of cut stone using coloured stones and marbles.
File:BeyazıtMosqueDoor.jpg, The entrance portal to the courtyard
File:Bayezid II Mosque courtyard DSCF1149.jpg, The courtyard and its shadirvan
BeyazıtCamiAvlu.jpg, The courtyard and the domes
BeyazıtCamii.jpg, The view of the mosque from the Beyazıt Square
BeyazıtCamiAvlu2.jpg, Columns with different colors
File:2007-03-11 03-17 Istanbul 032 Beyazit Moschee (2718629740).jpg, One of the muqarnas-carved capitals in the courtyard
File:Bayezid_II_Mosque_Entrance.jpg, Portico and entrance to the prayer hall from the courtyard
File:Mosque Architecture - Sultanahmet District - Istanbul - Turkey - 01 (5719267791).jpg, Closer view of the southwestern minaret
Interior
The mosque interior resembles a smaller scale version 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 ...
.
In addition to the central dome, the semi-domes to the east and west form a nave. To the north and south there are side aisles, each with four small domes, which extend the width of the mosque, but which are not divided into galleries. The dome is supported by huge rectangular piers, with smooth
pendentives and
stalactite
A stalactite (, ; , ) is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble and that can be deposited as a colloid, or is in suspension (chemistry ...
decorations. The space is lit with twenty windows at the base of the dome and seven windows on each semi-dome, in addition to two tiers of windows on the walls. An elevated sultan's loge (
''hünkâr mahfili''), located to the right of 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".
...
'', is supported by ten small marble columns which were reused from earlier
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 ...
churches.
On the west side, a broad extended corridor extends considerably beyond the main structure of the building. Originally designed as four domed cells to serve as a
hospice
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...
for wandering
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, the wings were integrated into the prayer hall in the sixteenth century and now consist of three consecutive rooms separated by archways. At the ends of these wings are the two
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.
File:Beyazid II mosque0816.jpg, Interior of the mosque, looking towards the mihrab
File:Beyazid II mosque0822.jpg, The mosque's central dome and semi-domes
File:BeyazıtMosqueInt.jpg, Closer view of the central dome
Other parts of the complex
Behind the mosque is a small garden, containing the ''
türbe
''Türbe'' refers to a Muslim mausoleum, tomb or grave often in the Turkish-speaking areas and for the mausolea of Ottoman sultans, nobles and notables. A typical türbe is located in the grounds of a mosque or complex, often endowed by the ...
'' (tombs) of Sultan
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 ...
, his daughter Selçuk Hatun, and
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
Koca Mustafa Reşid Pasha.
Below the garden is an arcade of shops (''arasta''), designed by
Mimar Sinan in 1580, whose rents were originally intended to support the mosque. It was extensively restored in the 1960s.
In 1882 the former soup kitchen was converted into the State Library of Istanbul by 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 ...
; it now houses over 120,000 books and 7000 manuscripts.
The former ''medrese'' now houses a small
Museum of Turkish Calligraphy Art that has been closed to the public for more than a decade. In 2022 this was undergoing restoration.
The monumental
Bayezid II Hamam was restored in the 2000s and early 2010s before being reopened as the Museum of Turkish Hamam Culture in 2015.
Embedded in the lowest part of the walls are fragments of sculpture from the lost triumphal arch from the
Forum of Theodosius
The Forum of Theodosius (, today Beyazıt Square) was probably the largest square in Constantinople and stood on the Mese, the major road that ran west from Hagia Sophia ( Turkish: Ayasofya). It was originally built by Constantine I and named t ...
, more remains of which are scattered on the ground across the road from the mosque. During restoration of the hamam traces of an old Byzantine church beneath the hamam were uncovered.
File:Beyazid II mosque0796.jpg, Cemetery and mausoleums; Bayezid II's mausoleum is on the right
File:Beyazid II madrasa Istanbul DSCF2217.jpg, The ''medrese'' of the complex (converted to a museum)
File:Beyazit hammam DSCF6006.jpg, The Bayezid II Hamam (now a museum)
File:Cemetery of the Bayezid II Mosque 01.jpg, The cemetery near the mosque
See also
*
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...
*
List of mosques
*
Ottoman architecture
Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the Ottoman Empire over a long period, undergoing some significant changes during its history. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century an ...
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
Sultan Bajazid's (i.e., Beyazit's) Mosque, Constantinople, Turkey
{{Ottoman architecture
16th-century madrasas
Mosques completed in the 1500s
Fatih
Madrasas in Turkey
Mimar Hayruddin buildings
Ottoman mosques in Istanbul
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1506
Sunni mosques in Turkey