Selami Ali Efendi Mosque

Audio Narration

Construction Year :

1688

Location :

Üsküdar, İstanbul

Ordered by :

Sheikh Selami Ali Efendi

Architects :

Unknown

- Changes after its construction
  • It was burned down along with 600 other buildings in the Selamsız fire in 1921, leaving no trace of its outbuildings
  • Selami Ali Efendi Mosque was rebuilt in 1832. During this period, the “Kuru Çeşme,” which gave its name to the area where the mosque is located, was also built
  • It was rebuilt in 1965 to keep the memory of the great Sufi Sheikh Selami Ali Efendi alive
  • And it was rebuilt by a philanthropist in recent years.
- Prominent features
  • It is one of the most important dervish lodges of the Selamiye order
  • The area around the mosque developed with the shops, baths, and houses built by Selami Ali Efendi, and became an important district of Üsküdar
  • The name Selami turned into Selamsız over time and became the name of a region
  • It has a single minaret and a single balcony
  • It has a large courtyard and a fountain
  • Kanuni Edhem Ağa, after whom the street is named, served as the zakirbaşı (the person who recites the hymns and eulogies during dhikr in the dervish lodges, manages the community, and ensures that the dhikr takes place with enthusiasm and love) at the lodge
  • The mosque was built with three rows of bricks and one row of cut stone. Today, it is covered with a material that looks like cut stone
  • The minaret on the right side is covered with cut stone
  • It has a magnificent structure and is entered via a two-flight staircase
  • The narthex, which is seated on pointed arches carried by six columns, is covered with a flat roof
  • There is a portico with four columns in front
  • Its single central dome is placed on an eight-sided drum and there are 20 windows at the foot of the dome
  • The mihrab and the minbar are covered with marble and have verses written on their foreheads
  • To reduce the pressure of the dome, two-storey external side galleries were built on both sides of the mosque.