Katip Sinan Mosque
- Changes after its construction
- It is one of the first mosques built after the conquest.
- As stated in its inscription, this mosque, which had been completely destroyed over time, was
rebuilt by Rakım Efendi in 1737.
- Prominent features
- • The mosque is also known as the Daltaban Mosque because the fountain and palace of
Grand Vizier Daltaban Mustafa Pasha were located in this area. - It has a single-domed and balconied minaret.
- The walls are made of cut stone with joints.
- The dome sits on an 8-sided drum; the corners are in the form of pendentives (domes).
- The gallery extends from the entrance and opposite the mihrab to the end of the minaret.
- There are beautiful plaster works and colored glass made in recent periods on the upper
windows. - There are symmetrical Basmalah" (“In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most
Gracious”) on the windows on both sides of the mihrab. The mihrab is almond-shaped and has
6 rows; the minbar is wooden and painted to imitate marble. - The minaret is made of cut stone and is on the left of the mosque. A part of its cube, unlike the
other sides, appears to have very short 5 sides. - The grave of Katip Sinan, who died in 1510, is located on the side of the mihrab wall.
- The coffin in the dome of the mosque is a unique feature that cannot be found in any other
mosque in the world. According to legend, in 1496, during the reign of Bayezid II, Katip Sinan,
the kitchen clerk of the Ottoman palace, had a mosque built with the money he saved and when
he died, he requested in his will that his body be buried in the dome of the mosque. However,
when Katip Sinan passed away, his body was buried in the graveyard in the mosque courtyard.
The congregation that came for the next morning prayer saw that the grave was open and Katip
Sinan body was lying at the foot of the dome. Thereupon, they said, It is good, Godwilling."
and took the body and buried it in the graveyard again. However, the same event happened
again the next day; this situation lasted for three days. The congregation, in astonishment,
interpreted this event as a miracle and decided to bury the body in a coffin they had built at the
foot of the dome, as Katip Sinan had willed. The coffin in the dome today reflects this narrative.
