Changes After Construction
The library and the Vezir Han (Vizier Hostelry) were added to the complex by his son, Grand Vizier Fazıl Ahmed Pasha, before 1676.
The shrine was moved to its current location and rebuilt in 1871 when Divanyolu Street was widened. When the street was widened in 1871, the portico in front of the door of the mosque was removed and the door was renewed in 1873.
The madrasah was damaged in the earthquake of 1894; victims of the fire in 1914 took shelter here. It was recently allocated to the Kubbealtı Academy Culture and Art Foundation.
Vezir Han was repaired by Odabaşı Mustafa Efendi in 1914.
Featured Highlights
It is also known as the Köprülü Mehmet Pasha Complex.
It has an octagonal plan, is covered with a drum dome and is made of cut limestone. It has a marble minbar in the Baroque style, a preacher’s pulpit with openwork wooden railings, a new wooden mihrab with simple workmanship and a pavillion-type minaret.
There are ten rooms in the arcaded courtyard of the madrasah. Some of the rooms were demolished during the expansion of the Divanyolu. There is a door opening to the arcaded courtyard and a well in the madrasah.
The shrine has an octagonal plan and horseshoe-shaped arched facades carried by columns with muqarnas headings. The shrine contains the graves of Köprülü Mehmet Pasha, Ayşe Hanım and Fazıl Ahmed Pasha.
It was designed as the first independent library in Istanbul. Its dome is notable for its hand-carved decorations and alternating wall texture. It was added to the complex by Grand Vizier Fazıl Ahmed Pasha before 1676.
The Vezir Han was designed as a two-story building with two courtyards and has undergone changes in different periods. Its inner courtyard is surrounded by porticoes resting on square-section stone piers.
