Fourth day, Three mosques, Two Sultans

Titian's portrait of Süleymaniye the Magnificent

Bellini's portrait of Mehmet II, The Conqueror

Knowing next to nothing about mosques, we decided to visit three of the largest and most admired mosques in a sort of compare and contrast tour. The day was warm and sunny and we set out first for the Sehzade Mosque, built in the 1540s by Süleymaniye the Magnificent to memorialize his beloved 21 year old son who died of smallpox.

The first lesson we learned is that there was very little to contrast. They were all elegant designs, made of pure natural materials in soothing colors, and brightly lit. The arcade surrounding the courtyard entrance . . .

. . . had these red lunettes, each with a different geometric or trailing leaf  pattern.

The interior with a roof composed of domes and semi-domes and pendentives and barrel arches  all emphasised with red terra cotta stripes.

The mihrab, the niche in every mosque, to mark the direction to Mecca for prayer,

A simple letter shape on one of the supporting pillars.

The minaret.

Mosques were not just single buildings, but were more like medieval Christian monasteries with a religious center surrounded by a campus of buildings to support social services like schools, hospitals, kitchens, hostels, baths and water supplies, plus burial grounds and tombs.

On our way to the Fatih Camii, the Conqueror's Mosque we walked along the  Aqueduct of Valens, built in 375 by the Roman Emperor Valens to pipe water from the countryside outside the walls to the giant cisterns in the city.

Along some of the route, houses and mosques are built right up to the aqueduct . . .

. . . in other sections parks are being built alongside. In one, this gilded statue was being erected by workmen.

My original idea was to visit the three mosques chronologically, but Istanbul's long history of earthquakes made that idea unworkable. This is the Conqueror's Mosque, begun in 1463, shortly after Mehmet II entered the city through the gate we saw yesterday. The site chosen was the top of the Fourth Hill, where the once important Church of the Holy Apostles, burial place of Constantine and other Byzantine rulers, had lay in ruins for centuries. The 15th century mosque was hit with so many earthquakes that it had to be rebuilt after the 1766 earthquake finally destroyed it. 

The central dome is a reminder that the Conqueror wanted a mosque to rival Haghia Sophia, and  Judith Herrin in her book Byzantium notes the irony of the basic mosque design being the Christian church of Haghia Sophia.

But a giant scallop shell hints at the Baroque Rococo influence of the age.

On a Sunday afternoon, each of the three mosques were buzzing with activity.  Groups of men, groups of women, families with small children, elderly with adult children wandered through the mosque. A few prayed, most just sat and talked while children ran around playing. 

Today was very warm and bright. After walks up and down hills, we found ourselves in a busy neighbourhood of street markets and cafes. The wonderful Istanbul Eats app I downloaded from a recommendation in a food magazine, netted us a wonderful lunch in the cafe the giant horse in the middle of the square is staring at.

Our last stop was the Süleymaniye Mosque built in the 1550s  and said to be the finest of all Istanbul's mosques by our guidebook. The four minarets indicate just how important this Sultan felt himself to be.

Also built by the great architect Sinan who lived to be 100 years old and was responsible for the design of an astounding number of buildings. The prayer room in each of the three mosques is a cubical box, brightly lit with hanging lamps, grounded with bright carpeting, always clean since shoes are removed before stepping inside and vacuum cleaners seem to always be in use.

The courtyard here was especially elegant with the fountain for ritual cleansing in the center.
And the shade was very welcome on a hot day.

This was the first warm day we can remember since . . . hmmm . . . neither of us could remember since when. So it was very pleasant sit on the hotel's roof terrace, sip some wine, and contemplate the Golden Horn, and be reminded of how much building work and renovation is underway in the city.