Author
There are many opinions about the identity of architecture; Some researchers believe that it is the Italian Montagne Effendi, while others believe that the architect is Sarkis Balian. Some claim that Agop Balyan contributed to the design, and that the designer, Osp, assisted in the construction.
Author Original
هناك آراء عديدة حول هوية المعمار؛ إذ يعتقد بعض الباحثين أنه الإيطالي مونتاني أفندي، بينما يرى آخرون أن المعمار هو سركيس باليان ويزعم البعض أن آغوب باليان ساهم في التصميم، وأن المصمِّم أوسب ساعد في التشييد
Publication Date
1288 / 1871
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;tr;Mon01;30;ar
Library Location
Istanbul, Türkiye
Date
1288 / 1871
Notes
The complex was built on the commission of the Sultan's mother. It consists of several buildings surrounding a central mosque (college), and includes a shrine, a water fountain, a clock room, in which the exact times of prayers are shown each day, a library, and a religious school. The mosque has a traditional style consisting of a square prayer hall with a single dome. In front of its vertical mass, there is a two-story building consisting of a corridor for latecomers, two areas for women and men, the Sultan’s cabin, and various other rooms. There are two minarets, each with a balcony, attached to this additional building, and independent of the main body of the mosque. The prayer hall has an area of 10 x 10 square metres, and is equipped with arches on all four sides. The eastern, western and southern facades of the mosque were emphasized by decorative towers, and the protruding central parts were crowned with triangular niches, each containing two rows of three windows. As for the dome, which is separated from the walls and shifted inward, it rests on a neck with 12 sides. Umm Al-Sultan Mosque is considered distinctive in terms of the density and diversity of its decorations. The central protruding parts of the facades and the windows in the neck of the dome were executed in the Gothic style. As for the design of the triple blind niches above the windows, for example, some of its elements were borrowed from Ottoman decorative art, while their location is reminiscent of models of North African and Andalusian architecture. The blind niches, arabesque formations, and decorative fronds in the facades, like the muqarnas, are derived from classical Ottoman art. The decorative towers, which were crowned with onion domes reminiscent of Indian architecture, were decorated with blind niches containing muqarnas, also inspired by classical Ottoman architecture, with simple niches and various geometric shapes. The interior spaces were densely decorated, like the facades. Ottoman drawings were used in colorful decoration (rosum), which is dominated by blue. The cornice and roses surround the upper section of the lower row of windows. While the wall surfaces were decorated, similar to the facades, with elements of classical Ottoman art such as blind niches, muqarnas, arches, arabesques, and floral decoration inspired by Chinese art. As for the mihrab and the pulpit, they are devoid of decoration. This building, which reflects, in terms of the way it was constructed, the characteristics of the style of that era and its innovative elements, was built in an eclectic style with a clear Oriental tendency. The simultaneous use of the Bertunial Umm al-Sultan Mosque of different elements belonging to multiple styles and styles, such as decorative arts and Gothic, Ottoman and Indian architecture, demonstrates the extent to which that period was influenced by the eclectic point of view that was widespread throughout Europe. As for the madrasa, which was built by order of the Bertunial Umm al-Sultan, it was subjected to a devastating fire in the year 1328 / 1911, while the shrine, the water fountain, and the clock room were moved during Renovation of Luxor Square and its surroundings in 1956-1959. Due to the various works that followed the construction of roads in the area, the mosque remained below street level, while parts of the shrine were transferred to the cemetery adjacent to the tomb of Sultan Selim III. The tomb of the Sultan’s mother was later rebuilt in the courtyard of the complex using the original elements of her tomb, which had been dismantled and moved to the cemetery. As for her body, it was transferred first to the Topkapi Palace (Topkapi), then to the tomb of Sultan Mehmed II, and then to her tomb, where it now rests.
Sample Text
“Partonial Umm Sultan Mosque Complex” within Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;tr;Mon01;30;ar
