NURUOSMANIYE MOSQUE (NURUOSMANIYE CAMII)

Baroque inspiration and built by architect Mustafa Ağa assisted by Simon the Companion, the complex began in 1748 under Mahmud II and completed in 1756 under Osman III. It is the only sultan to have added a qualifier in the name of a mosque to "baptiser Osman" (Nuruosmaniye). Two large doors on the outside courtyard give access to the Nuruosmaniye district and the Grand Bazaar to which you access a beautiful monumental door. Shops were built from the beginning under the ramp leading to imperial apartments. The mosque, located in the centre of the whole, is built on a platform. The inner courtyard, of absidiale form, bordered by an peristyle surmounted by 14 domes supported by 12 columns, is the only of its kind in Istanbul. The main square of the mosque, of square shape, is covered with a large dome, with over 174 windows of baroque inspiration pouring waves of light inside. The absence of internal pillars, despite the boxes at the colonnade, helps to give a feeling of great decommitment. The classical mederasa is located south of the mosque and adjacent to the popular canteen building. A vestibule covered with a dome gives access to the inner courtyard around which the different rooms and rooms have been distributed. The public fountain is a dome building with wooden cornices supported by four columns of marble. The library is located east of the inner courtyard and has a large polygonal reading room with a dome and supported by four columns. The mausoleum, built on a square plane, is housed in a dome built on a high-placed drum. The calligraphy visible in the complex are the works of the masters of the day, Rasim, Yedikulelizade, Abdülhalim, Müzehhip Ali and Mehmed Refi.