Mehmed Ağa Mosque

Mehmed Ağa Mosque, located in the Çarşamba neighborhood of Istanbul's Fatih district, is a mosque built in the 16th century by Habeşî Mehmed Ağa, the Dârüssaâde agha of the time of Murad III.

The mosque is on Manyasizade Street behind the Fethiye bus stop, between Çilekeş Street and Mehmet Ağa Mosque Street. It is the work of Hassa Architect Mimar Davud Ağa, a disciple of Mimar Sinan. There is not much information about Mehmed Ağa. He is known for his philanthropy. Outside his complex here he had two prayer rooms built in Üsküdar, a madrasa, school and fountain opposite Hoca Rüstem Prayer Room on Divanyolu.

According to the sixteen‑verse inscription by the poet Asârî on the east courtyard gate of the Mehmed Ağa Mosque, the building was constructed in H.993 (1585). The last four verses of the sixteen‑verse inscription read: “Oldu mimarı Kamil Davud / Yaptı caniyle dercedüp san’at / Dedi Asârî tarihin hatif / Beyti Hadi ve Camii-i ümmet”. The mosque consists of a central dome supported by eight columns, with half‑domes at the four corners and at the mihrab projection. It was built as a complex, and sources mention a tomb, madrasa, fountain, and hamam. Its madrasa and tekke have not survived to the present day. Mehmed Ağa’s tomb is a square‑plan building with a dome in the mosque courtyard. It was taken under restoration in 2016. One of its two fountains has been restored, the other remains in a neglected condition.

The interior of the mosque is covered with the finest examples of 16th- and 18th-century tiles. Various sources state that some of these tiles, made with the underglaze painting technique, are 16th-century İznik and Kütahya tiles, while others are 18th-century Tekfur Palace tiles. The artistic value of the tile panels is as high as that of those in the Takyeci İbrahim Efendi Mosque located outside the Topkapı fortress. Above the lower windows, perfect examples of calligraphy art are engraved on the tiles. On the dome ceiling of the mosque, which has a marble pulpit and a wooden lectern, a verse inscription is carved. The last prayer hall is a glass frame with a portico. The white stone minaret of the brick and stone structure is on its right side. The interior of the mosque is white‑painted. It has an upper floor supported by slender columns. One enters the last prayer hall through a door with a jamb, and there are two mihrabs, one on each of the right and left platforms. The courtyard gate is muqarnas‑decorated, marble‑framed, and wooden. According to information given by Murat Bayaral, Mehmet Ağa’s library, separated from the harem by railings, was transferred in 1914 to the Sultan Selim Library, in 1920 to the Murat Molla Library, and in 1949 to the Süleymaniye Library.

The mosque is separated from the street by high outer walls and has three courtyard gates. It has no fountain, but it has an ablution facility. Opposite the courtyard there is a hamam, and at the back there is a park of the same name. The mosque, whose main entrance gate has a minaret on its right, was repaired in 1743 and 1938; during the restoration carried out by the Foundations Administration in 1982, some columns of the last prayer hall were replaced and cracked columns were reinforced with iron rings. At the end of the 1980s, the last prayer hall was closed with a jamb.