Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa Mosque

Audio Narration

Construction Years:

1734-1735

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered by:

Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha

Architect:

Çuhadar (Royal Steward) Ömer Agha and Hajj Mustafa Agha

- Changes the building has undergone since its construction
  • The mosque and social complex structures have undergone various restorations over time; especially some of the fountains in the courtyard were broken and dried.
- Prominent features of the mosque
  • The complex, which consists of a mosque, a lodge, a shrine, a shadirvan, a library, a fountain and a tap, is considered one of the last examples of classical Turkish architecture.
  • The main dome of the mosque rests on 6 columns and is supported by dodecagonal arches. In the center of the building is a prayer hall expanded by six half domes.
  • The mosque is entered through 3 courtyard gates; the courtyard is paved with stone and covered with pine and plane trees. The Thuluth inscription on the entrance gate is carved in the script of the calligrapher Mustafa Effendi of Cihangir.
  • The five-sided fountain located in the corner of the complex is domed and surrounded by metal networks from its windows.
  • The fountain has a wooden roof, a marble chamber and is supported by eight columns. The shrine located just behind it is covered with two domes with squinches; under the right dome are the coffins of Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha and his family members, and under the left dome are the coffins of the notables of the dervish lodge.
  • The prayer hall is surrounded by a gallery on three sides; the mihrab is decorated in the Rococo-Classical style, with the Qadiri crown on both sides and the Ayat al-Qursi written in Jeli Thuluth calligraphy on tiles.
  • The walls of the mosque are covered with blue tiles up to the gallery. On the right wall there is a tile panel depicting the Kaaba.
  • The minbar is porous and has a peak, and is decorated with muqarnas (stalactite) decorations; the Sultan’s Lodge on the left wall has a hanging appearance and is green in color.
  • There are many fountains inside the mosque and in the courtyard. Some of the inscriptions in the complex were written by prominent figures of the period such as Koca Ragıp Pasha (statesman, diplomat and poet) and Sheikh al-Islam Ishak Effendi.