Person in the Tomb
Adile Sultan is the daughter of Sultan Mahmud II and the only child born to Zernigar Kadın. She lost her mother at a young age and was raised by her father's Baş Kadın (the first to born a son to the Sultan), Nev-Fidan Kadın.
She married Mehmed Ali Pasha, who was the Grand Admiral and later the Grand Vizier, in 1845. They had three children; two of them died at a young age.
Adile Sultan, who had a deep literary culture, was the only female poet with a divan in the Ottoman dynasty.
After the death of her husband and then her daughter, she joined the Naqshbandi order and lived a mystical life under the sheikh of the Bala Tekke, Ali Efendi. She is known for her retreats in the Women's Mosque in Eyüp during Ramadan.
Among the palaces she owned in various districts of Istanbul are the one in Fındıklı (today's Fine Arts Academy), the girls' high school building in Kandilli and the mansion left by Esma Sultan in Kuruçeşme. She is an important example of Ottoman women with her philanthropy, poetic identity and religious life.
About the Mausoleum
- Year Built
- Commissioned By
- Architect
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Featured Highlights
The tomb has a rectangular plan and is covered with a curvilinear lead-coated dome.
The structure consists of a cross-vaulted main entrance in the middle and domed tomb rooms on both sides.
The tomb, which draws attention with its marble-covered facade, has door and window details decorated with cast iron grids.
Above the entrance gate is the tughra of Sultan Abdülmecid, dated 1266 H. (1849).
Its façade is enlivened by four-sided columns with Ionic capitals.
There is a shrine room at the back of the building.
