İsmet Efendi Sufi Lodge Mosque

Audio Narration:

Construction Year:

1853–1854

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered By:

Sheikh Mustafa İsmet Efendi of Ioannina

Architect:

Unknown

Changes After Construction:
  • With the end of the Sufi Lodge activities in 1925, the group of structures remained neglected for a long time; the function of the masonry section used as the tevhidhane weakened.
  • In 1958, through an official permit process, the tevhidhane units were combined; with the addition of a minaret and a son cemaat place, the structure was converted into a mosque.
  • In the 1960s, repairs and arrangements were made to make the mosque suitable for worship; the minaret was renewed/rebuilt in reinforced concrete (single-balconied).
  • In 1992, an intervention was made in the northern section of the courtyard wall במסגרת the environmental arrangement; during this process, some elements associated with the wall disappeared.
Prominent Features:
  • The structure is described as a masonry-walled and square-planned place of worship; it is stated that in the upper covering, an arrangement creating the effect of a half dome and a tile-covered roof stand out.
  • In the harim, the mihrab was arranged by being recessed into the wall; the minbar and preaching pulpit have been defined as wooden elements.
  • The women’s gallery forms the interior layer of the structure, shaped by contemporary interventions, within a transitional composition associated with the son cemaat place.
  • The window openings were arranged in different numbers in the harim according to the directions, and the lighting composition of the interior is read through this distribution.
  • Because it is located within the Sufi Lodge area, the mosque is considered together with a large courtyard/graveyard; this courtyard arrangement creates a strong architectural framework that transforms the place of worship from being a structure on its own into a whole of “courtyard + cemetery + worship.”
  • Its being one of the early centers in the history of Khalidism in Istanbul provides a historical background that makes it possible to read the architecture of the structure in relation to the Sufi Lodge program (tevhidhane–harem/selamlık, etc.).