Hatice İsfendiyar Mosque

Hatice İsfendiyar or At Market Mosque, a place of worship built in the 15th century in the Kamberler neighbourhood in the centre of Bursa.

It takes its name from its patron Hatice Hanım Sultan. It is one of the shield‑walled mosques known specifically in Bursa. Its walls are built of brick and stone, it has a rectangular plan, and a single minaret. It is located within Kamberler Park.

History

The building is named "Hatice İsfendiyar" because of its patron Hatice Hanım Sultan. Hatice İsfendiyar is the daughter of Selçuk Hatun, daughter of Çelebi Mehmed, and the daughter of İbrahim Bey, son of İsfendiyar Bey, Bey of Candaroğulları. Hatice İsfendiyar married Mahmud Çelebi, son of the Ottoman grand vizier Koca Mehmed Nizamüddin Pasha and favourite of Bayezid II, and she had the mosque built together with her husband during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed.

When the Orhan Gazi Complex was built in the centre of the Hanlar Region, the horse market that was there began to be established in the area where Hatice İsfendiyar Mosque stands, and Hatice İsfendiyar Mosque became known as At Market Mosque.

In the 2000s, as part of the "Kamberler Park Project", the mosque was cleared of the dilapidated buildings around it; together with the nearby Sittî Hatun Mosque it was restored and acquired its present appearance.

Architectural features

It is a square‑plan building measuring 8.95 × 8.95 metres. Its main space is covered by a single large dome set on prismatic triangles (almonds). On the north side there is a prayer hall for the final congregation measuring 3.55 × 9.30 metres internally.

It is one of the shield‑walled mosques specific to Bursa. The façade of this type of mosque is arranged with three arched openings. In Hatice Sultan Mosque there is no decorative element above the three arched openings.

The minaret is located at the north‑west corner and is accessed from a door in the main prayer hall. The octagonal base of the minaret is built with two rows of brick and rubble stone.