Bursa Green Mosque

The Green Mosque (Turkish: Yeşil Camii), also known as the Mosque of Mehmed I, is a part of a larger complex (külliye) in eastern Bursa, Turkey, the former capital of the Ottoman Turks before Constantinople was captured in 1453. The complex consists of a mosque, a mausoleum known as the Green Tomb, a madrasa, a public kitchen, and a bathhouse. The name Green Mosque comes from its green and blue interior tile decorations. It is part of the historic UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Construction

The Green Mosque is often seen as the culmination of the early Ottoman architectural style, mainly due to the level of aesthetic and technical mastery displayed within the mosque.

The Green Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Mehmed I Çelebi, who ruled from 1413 to 1421, after a fight against his brothers to reunite the Ottoman Empire. The mosque's construction was begun in 1412 and, according to the inscription over its entrance portal, it was completed in December 1419 or January 1420 (Dhu'l-Hijja 822 AH). Construction was supervised by architect and patron of the arts vizier Hacı İvaz Pasha, who had been a commander under Mehmed I. Upon his death, Mehmed I was buried in a mausoleum called the Green Tomb, commissioned by his son and successor, Murad II, located within the complex. Construction of the tomb was completed in May 1421.

Decorative work continued on the mosque after Mehmed I's death. A calligraphic inscription in the sultan's loge above the entrance records that the decoration was completed in August 1424 (at the end of Ramadan 827) by Nakkas ("the Artist") Ali bin Ilyas Ali. Ali bin Ilyas Ali is believed to have brought a diverse group of craftsmen called the “Masters of Tabriz” to assist him. This is based on an inscription on the tiles around the mosque's mihrab which is signed as the "work of the masters of Tabriz". Tabriz, a prominent artistic and cultural center in western Iran, was a particularly important channel through which Timurid influence arrived at the Green Mosque, as it was invaded by the Timurids throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Hacı İvaz Pasha was also reported to have “brought masters and men of skill from foreign lands” to help with the mosque's construction, according to 15th-century historian Aşıkpaşazade. Another Persian inscription inside the royal loge above the entrance identifies Mehmed el-Mecnun ("Mehmet the Mad") as the artist who decorated the ceramics of the mosque. Scholar Patricia Blessing notes that the exact roles played by each person named in the inscriptions is still not certain, as the terminology used in these historical texts is not fully understood today.

Restorations

Due to the damage sustained in the 7.5 magnitude Bursa earthquake of 1855, the complex underwent extensive renovations planned by French architect and artist Léon Parvillée, beginning in 1863. The exact completion date is unknown. Ahmet Vefik Paşa, the regional administrator of west Anatolia and a patron of the preservation of Ottoman cultural heritage, asked Parvillée to restore the major fourteenth and fifteenth century royal monuments of the city. During this period, Bursa was undergoing a transformation into a modern city.

Parvillée first visited the Ottoman capital of Istanbul in 1851, later moving there in 1855. He worked in the empire as a decorator, contractor and architect. Parvillée was well-versed in the main aspects of early Ottoman style due to his experiences living and working in the region as well as his extensive research of the subject. The French consul of Bursa stated in 1906 that Parvillée remained in Bursa from 1862 to 1867, but this is disputed. It is unclear whether Parvillée merely planned the restoration and then left Bursa, or stayed to supervise the execution of his specifications. In any case, it is documented that Parvillée had returned to Paris by 1867 to design and build the Turkish pavilion displayed in the Exposition Universelle.

Parvillée was involved in restoring the interior and the exterior of the mosque, including the tile work. Parvillée restored the black-line tiles on the portal of the mosque. The two minarets were rebuilt on an old base by Parvillée. Polychrome painted decorations, which had previously adorned the upper parts of the walls and ceilings, were not restored.

During a second restoration project that took place from 1941 to 1943, the ceramic facing of the tiles was removed and reinstalled.

The Green Mosque underwent another renovation, starting in 2010 and reopening on May 11, 2012, which cost 1.8 million Turkish Liras.

Present day

The Green Mosque is now a popular tourist destination in Bursa. Since 2014 it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site designated around historic Bursa.

Interior

The Green Mosque is based on an inverted T-plan and is a two-story, cube-shaped building with an extension on the south side. The mosque has a vestibule at the entrance leading up a short staircase to a central prayer hall. This stairway has four marble cubby-holes (Turkish: papuçluk) on each side for slippers. These architectural inclusions point to the court being paved previously, although it is now carpeted.

The central hall, which runs from north to south, is flanked by iwans (Turkish: eyvans) on the east and west. Both are domed and two stories high. There are two doors, smaller iwans, connecting to corner rooms on the first floor that are similar to those on the north side of the building, each containing a fireplace. The central hallway running north–south is intersected by a longer hallway running east–west.