Muradiye Mosque

Bursa Muradiye Mosque, a mosque commissioned in the first half of the 15th century in Bursa by Ottoman sultan Murad II.

It is the last of the mosques built in Bursa on behalf of Ottoman sultans. The stone and brick work on the exterior façade, the wooden door made with the kündekari technique, the İznik tiles in the interior spaces and the Edirnekâri ceiling decorations are of importance for art history.

It is the main structure of the Muradiye Complex, which is one of the components of the World Heritage Site “Bursa and Cumalıkızık: The Birth of the Ottoman Empire” that was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014.

History

According to the inscription on the stone lintel, the construction of the mosque was started by Sultan Murad II in Hijri 828 (1425) and completed in Hijri 830 (1426). The architect is not known with certainty.

At the beginning of the 19th century a fire damaged the mihrab, which was rebuilt in the Rococo style. The original minbar was destroyed in a fire and was replaced by a minbar made in 1897.

Of the mosque’s two minarets, the western one collapsed in the 1855 Bursa earthquake and was rebuilt in 1904; during repairs at the beginning of the 20th century one window of each of the east and west wings was converted into a door.

Muradiye Mosque was restored between 2013 and 2014 by the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality and the Foundations Regional Directorate. As part of the restoration work, the damaged parts of the lead roof covering were renewed. The interior and exterior façades were cleared of cement. Cracks in the main and side domes were repaired, and a 160‑square‑metre area inside the mosque was filled with Horasan mortar. The last prayer area was arranged, and the mosque’s entrance door was refurbished.

With the inclusion of Bursa and its surroundings in 2014 as UNESCO World Heritage List entry number 998 under the name "Bursa and Cumalıkızık: The Birth of the Ottoman Empire", the main structure of the Muradiye Complex, the Muradiye Mosque, one of the six components of this heritage, increased its notoriety.

Inscription

The three-line Arabic dedicatory inscription written in bold thuluth script on the stone above the main gate reads:

"This honorable and blessed charitable foundation was ordered in the month of Rajab of the year 828 by the Sultan of the Arabs and Persians, the shadow of God on earth, the Sultan's son, Sultan, son of Bayezid Khan, son of Mehmed, Sultan Murad—may God perpetuate his dominion—and was completed in the month of Muharram of the year 830."

Architectural features

Built with brick and rubble stone, the Muradiye Mosque is a mosque of the type with a zawiya. In front of the building there is a five-bay main prayer hall.

The façades of the prayer hall porticos are decorated with brick geometric patterns and sky‑blue star‑shaped tiles. On the right side of the entrance there are two lightning symbols made of blue tile. These symbolize that Sultan Murad II was a ruler who struck his enemies like lightning.

The wooden entrance door, made in the kündekâri technique without the use of nails, glue or other binding materials, is located in the middle of the main prayer hall; above the door there is an Arabic dedicatory inscription written in thuluth script.

Above the entrance hall of the Muradiye Mosque there is a mezzanine floor about six and a half metres above the ground; this floor is accessed through a door on the right side of the eyvan.

Both minarets of the two‑minaret mosque are built on the body walls. The entrance to the eastern minaret is from the outside, while the entrance to the western one is provided by a passage leading from the mezzanine floor.

Plan

The mosque’s plan belongs to the group of winged mosques. The plan of the double‑large‑dome, wide‑eyvan, winged mosque resembles the plan of the Orhan Gazi Mosque.

Ornaments

The ceiling of the mosque entrance, the lower part of the main hall walls; are decorated with navy blue hexagonal tiles. On both sides of the iwan arch supports there is the Basmala written in clear thuluth script, and on the qibla wall of the western iwan there is the phrase "Turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque" which is the translation of Quran verse 149 of Surah Al‑Baqara, written in thuluth script. The calligrapher of this part is Ömer Vasfı Efendi.

On the wall west of the mihrab there is a Kaaba covering dating from the end of the 17th century.