Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar

For the mosque in the Edirnekapı district of Istanbul, see Mihrimah Sultan Mosque (Edirnekapı).

The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque (İskele Mosque, Jetty Mosque, Turkish: Mihrimah Sultan Camii, İskele Camii) is a 16th century Ottoman mosque overlooking the waterfront in the historic center of the Üsküdar district of Istanbul, Turkey. One of Üsküdar's best-known landmarks, it takes its alternative name from the ferry terminal near which it stands. Before the coast road was built, the mosque would have stood right beside the water, accessible by boat.

Mihrimah Sultan Mosque
Religion
Affiliation	Sunni Islam
Location
Location	Istanbul, Turkey
Shown within Istanbul
Geographic coordinates	41°01′36″N 29°00′58″E
Architecture
Architect(s)	Mimar Sinan
Type	Mosque
Groundbreaking	c. 1543-44
Completed	1548
Specifications
Dome height (outer)	24.2 m (79 ft)
Dome dia. (outer)	11.4 m (37 ft)
Minaret(s)	2
Materials	ashlar

Cross section and plan, Cornelius Gurlitt, 1912

History

The mosque was designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan and built between 1543-44 and 1548.^[1] It is the earlier of the two Friday mosques in Istanbul commissioned by Mihrimah Sultan, daughter of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and wife of Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha. The first mosque with this name was built in the Asian part (Üsküdar) and the second on the European side. The two mosques, despite being on different continents, look at one another.^[2]

Architecture

The large mosque stands on a raised platform with a broad double portico that contains a fine marble ablutions fountain. The architecture features several hallmarks of Mimar Sinan's mature style^{[citation needed]}: a spacious, high-vaulted basement, slender minarets and a single-domed baldacchino flanked by three semi-domes ending in three exedrae.

The exterior is composed of ashlar, a thin dressed stone of gray to cream color. The interior walls and mimber are of Imported marble surrounds.^[3]

One of the minarets still bears a carved sundial.

It was originally part of a complex, parts of which also survive although they now have different purposes.

Islamic Calligraphy in the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Muqarnas on top of the Mihrab inside the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Flower mosaics displayed on the windows of the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Islamic Calligraphy at the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Gallery

• 
  Ablution fountain
• 
  The frontal view
• 
  Interior view of the dome
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar from hill behind
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar from the west
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar son cemaat area
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar with ablutions fountain
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar son cemaat part
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar from graveyard
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar dome
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar domes
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar minber and mihrab
• 
  Mihrimah Sultan Mosque Uskudar window
• 
  Endowment Deed of Mihrimah Sultan. This document concerns the endowment of properties in Anatolia and Rumelia, from which revenues were to be used to meet the expenses of the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque. April-March 1550. Sadberk Hanım Museum

Mihrimah Sultan

See also

• List of Friday mosques designed by Mimar Sinan
• Mihrimah Mosque (Edirnekapı)

References

1. Necipoğlu 2005, p. 301.
2. Kriston, Andrea (13 December 2022). "How to get the best of Istanbul in 3 days". traveltastefeel.com.
3. Rogers, J. M. (1982). "The State and the Arts in Ottoman Turkey Part 1. The Stones of Suleymaniye". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 14 (1): 71–86. doi:10.1017/S0020743800026593. JSTOR 163335. S2CID 165434051.

Sources

• Necipoğlu, Gülru (2005). The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-253-9.

External links

• Photographs of the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque by Dick Osseman
• Mihrimah Sultan Külliyesi at Üsküdar, Archnet