Grand Mosque of Bursa
Bayezid I's 1399 mosque: twenty domes, an indoor fountain and celebrated Ottoman wall calligraphy.
The Grand Mosque of Bursa was commissioned by Sultan Bayezid I to mark his victory at the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 and completed in 1399 to designs by the architect Ali Neccar. Measuring 55 by 69 metres, it is the largest mosque in the first Ottoman capital and a defining work of early Ottoman architecture, in which Seljuk building traditions were reworked at imperial scale. Twenty domes, set in four rows of five, rest on twelve massive piers. The surrounding Hanlar district forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage property inscribed in 2014.
Light falls through a glazed opening in the central dome onto a marble şadırvan, an ablution fountain set unusually inside the prayer hall. The mosque is celebrated above all for its calligraphy: around 190 monumental inscriptions, the work of 41 calligraphers working mainly between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, cover its piers and walls. Beside the muqarnas mihrab of 1572 stands a walnut minbar of 1400, assembled by the kündekari method without nails or glue. Major repairs followed the earthquake of 1855.
Highlights
- Twenty domes in four rows of five, carried on twelve piers
- Marble şadırvan fountain lit by a glazed opening in the central dome
- Around 190 monumental calligraphic panels by 41 Ottoman masters
- Walnut minbar of 1400 built by the kündekari interlocking technique
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