Nuruosmaniye Mosque

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque (Turkish: Nuruosmaniye Camii) is an 18th-century Ottoman mosque located in the Çemberlitaş neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey, which was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey in 2016.

Designed by a Greek non-Muslim architect named Simeon Kalfa, the Nuruosmaniye mosque was the first monumental Ottoman building to exemplify the new Ottoman baroque style, which introduced baroque and neoclassical elements from Europe. The mosque's ornamentation and its curved courtyard display its baroque influences. The dome of the mosque is one of the largest in Istanbul. The mosque is part of a larger religious complex, or külliye, acting as a centre of culture, religion, and education for the neighborhood.

In Constantinople, the area of the Nurosmaniye Mosque was close to the Forum of Constantine, where the Column of Constantine (Turkish: Çemberlitaş Sütunu) still stands. Surrounding the mosque is Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (Turkish: Kapalıçarşı). After the construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the Nurosmaniye mosque was the first imperial mosque to be built in 100 years.

Historical background

The construction of the mosque complex was commissioned on the order of Sultan Mahmud I in 1748 and completed under his brother and successor, Sultan Osman III, in 1755. It was named Nuruosmaniye, meaning "The light of Osman", after Osman III.

The construction of the Nuruosmaniye marked the first time since the construction of the Sultan Ahmed I Mosque (in the early 17th century) that an Ottoman sultan built his own imperial mosque in Istanbul, something which had previously been a tradition with every sultan. Mahmud I's foundation marked the return of this tradition. The mosque was also the first monumental Ottoman building to exemplify the new Ottoman Baroque style, influenced by contemporary Baroque architecture in Europe. It helped reshape the city of Istanbul by announcing this new imperial style and marking a definitive shift away from Classical Ottoman architecture.

The complex was built on Istanbul's second hill. According to Ahmed Efendi, an Ottoman secretary involved in the mosque's construction, the site was formerly occupied by a smaller mosque founded by a certain Fatma Hatun. By the 18th century, this mosque had fallen into disrepair and the local residents had already petitioned Sultan Ahmed III to renovate it, but to no avail. When a new petition was sent to Mahmud I, the sultan appointed an official to investigate and it was ascertained that the mosque's waqf (endowment) was no longer generating income. Instead of funding its renovation, the sultan decided to appropriate the waqf and use the site for the construction of a new mosque. This much larger construction, however, required the purchase of multiple properties in the surrounding area, which initially met with reluctance from the property owners.

Mahmud I was known for his personal interest in architecture and Ahmed Efendi's writings seem to emphasize the sultan's personal commitment and piety in relation to the project. In his account, Efendi adds a story in which Mahmud I, while visiting the construction site, came across a "blessed sage" or spiritual old man. The sage praised him for building the mosque and bringing joy to the neighbourhood, and prayed for God to reward the sultan, thus encouraging Mahmud I to continue the project. Although Efendi's account has a panegyric style, it suggests that the sultan and his entourage viewed the mosque's construction as the fulfilment of divine providence and that a certain religious aura was promoted around the project. A number of other 18th-century Ottoman writers also praised the mosque after completion, signaling its perceived importance at the time. Although several of them, including Efendi, praised the size of the dome, they do not make any clear comments about the building's novel architectural style.

The mosque was designed by a non-Muslim Greek architect named Simeon Kalfa or Simon Kalfa. This was the first non-Muslim architect to be placed in charge of a major imperial Ottoman construction. Simeon's chief assistant was a Christian man named Kozma and the majority of the stonemasons under him were Christians as well. Both Simeon and Kozma were given robes of honour by the grand vizier at the mosque's opening ceremony. Scholar Ünver Rüstem notes this may have been the first time Christian architects were officially honoured at the inauguration of a mosque and that it reflected the growing status of Christian craftsmen in Ottoman architecture during this era.

The mosque

The prayer hall is covered by a single dome 25.4 metres (83 ft) in diameter and 43.5 metres (143 ft) high above the floor level. This makes it the third largest historic dome in Istanbul, after the Hagia Sophia and the Süleymaniye Mosque. The mosque utilizes a system of iron bracing running up from the floor, through the walls, and to the ceiling of the dome. The mosque material is made out of cut stone and marble.