Sultan_Ahmet_III_Fountain_%2848985208178%29

The Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III ( tr, III. Ahmet Çeşmesi) is a

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

in a Turkish

rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

structure in the great square in front of the Imperial Gate of

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio, is a large museum in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the compl ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. It was built under

Ottoman sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...

Ahmed III Ahmed III ( ota, احمد ثالث, ''Aḥmed-i sālis'') was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648–1687). His mother was Gülnuş Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at ...

in 1728, in the style of the Tulip period. It was a social centre and gathering place during the Ottoman period of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

History

The fountain kiosk of Ahmed III is in the place of a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

fountain known as Perayton. Another fountain, built during the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

stood on the site before this fountain. The architectural features of the exterior reflect a synthesis of traditional Ottoman and contemporary western styles. The fountain was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 10

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...

banknotes of 1947-1952.Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey
. Banknote Museum: 4. Emission Group - Ten Turkish Lira

. – Retrieved on 20 April 2009.

Architecture

The fountain is a large square block built with five small domes.

Mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla ...

-shaped niches decorated in low relief with foliate and floral designs in each of the four façades, each containing a drinking fountain (''çeşme''). The water is supplied from an octagonal pool inside the kiosk, with circulation space around it for kiosk attendants. On each corner is a triple-grilled ''sebil'' (from which an attendant issued cups of water or sherbet, free of charge, from behind a grille). Above the drinking fountains and niches on each façade and ''sebil'' are large

calligraphic Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as ...

plates bordered with blue and red tiles. Each plate bears stanzas of a 14-line poem dedicated to water and its donor by Seyyid Hüseyin Vehbi bin Ahmed, the chief judge of Halep and Kayseri. It is read clockwise around the fountain, beginning at the northern ''sebil''. The last stanza of the poem the northwest façade is a

chronogram A chronogram is a sentence or inscription in which specific letters, interpreted as numerals (such as Roman numerals), stand for a particular date when rearranged. The word, meaning "time writing", derives from the Greek words ''chronos'' (χ ...

composed by Ahmed III.

Literature

* ''Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi'' (1993) Istanbul, Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı I, 116-117. * Aynur, Hatice and Hakan T. Karateke (1995) ''III. Ahmed devri Istanbul çesmeleri, 1703-1730''. Istanbul, Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür İşleri Daire Başkanlığı. * Egemen, Affan (1993) ''Istanbul'un çesme ve sebilleri: resimleri ve kitabeleri ile 1165 çesme ve sebil''. Istanbul, Aritan Yayinevi. * Kara Pilehvarian, Nuran (2000) ''Fountains in Ottoman Istanbul''. Istanbul, Yapi-Endüstri Merkezi Yayinlari. * Şerifoğlu, Ömer Faruk (1995) ''Su güzeli: Istanbul sebilleri''. Istanbul, Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Kültür İşleri Daire Başkanlığı.

Notes and references

External links

Archnet.org , Fountain of Ahmed III
{{coord, 41, 00, 29.71, N, 28, 58, 52.36, E, display=title, region:TR_type:landmark Infrastructure completed in 1728 Fountains in Istanbul Pavilions Ottoman architecture in Istanbul Rococo architecture in Turkey Fatih 1728 establishments in the Ottoman Empire