Hürrem Çavuş Mosque

Audio Narration

Construction Year:

1560 - 1562

Location:

Fatih, İstanbul

Ordered by:

Hürrem Çavuş (Sergeant of the Imperial Council of Suleiman the Magnificent)

Architect:

Mimar Sinan

- Changes the building has undergone since its construction
  • It underwent major repairs in 1844 and 1901.
  • It was repaired again by the Foundations Administration in 1980-1982 and and once again 2000.
  • The narthex was originally built with a tiled roof on wooden pillars and was open, but later the front of the Harim was completely closed by covering the space between the pillars with paneling. In addition, a small entrance hut and a staircase leading to the upper floor were added.
- Prominent features of the mosque
  • It has a rectangular plan, walls built with one row of cut stone and two rows of bricks. It has a marble-framed entrance door, a Muezzin’s lodge and stairs leading to the upper gallery.
  • There are two rows of rectangular and arched lower windows and upper windows with fixed plaster grids on the east, west and mihrab walls.
  • The mihrab with plaster muqarnas (stalactites), the wooden minbar, the wooden slatted ceiling divided into squares and the half-meter-high wainscoting of the walls are remarkable. The preacher’s pulpit is wooden and cup-shaped. The sacred names are written in white calligraphy on green.
  • On the right (northwest) there is a stone minaret with a thick body, a single balcony and a lead-coated pointed cone.
  • The entrance gate, facing west, is surrounded by a marble-paved courtyard, a place for ablution, toilets and three large trees. In the courtyard of the mosque, along with the tomb of Hürrem Çavuş, the tombs of the pulpit sheikh Abdurrahman Effendi, the pulpit sheikh of Blue Mosque Çelebi Mehmet Effendi and his sons are located.
  • The primary school built in the courtyard, the fountain and the dervish lodge on the qibla side have not survived to this day.