The Emir Sultan Mosque () is in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. First built in the 15th century, it was rebuilt in 1804 for the Ottoman sultan

Selim III Selim III (; ; was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. Regarded as an enlightened ruler, he was eventually deposed and imprisoned by the Janissaries, who placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV (). A group of a ...

, and rebuilt again in 1868, the plan of the mosque changing slightly with each rebuild.

History

Emir Sultan, also known as Şemseddin Mehmed Ali el-Hüseyin el Buhari (Mehmed Şemseddin), was a

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

and scholar from

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

and also the advisor and son-in-law of the Ottoman sultan

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

. The religious complex around his tomb was first established by Sultan

Mehmed I Mehmed I (; – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi (, "the noble-born") or ''Kirişçi'' (, "lord's son"), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1413 to 1421. Son of Sultan Bayezid I and his concubine Devlet Hatun, he fought with hi ...

in the early 15th century. It was further developed during the reign of

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

(between 1421 and 1451), when Hundi Fatma Hatun, daughter of Bayezid I, built the complex's first mosque. The present-day mosque is situated in the quarter of Bursa also called Emirsultan. It was built after the original 15th-century building collapsed in the 1766 earthquake. When it was rebuilt by

, the previous mosque's foundations and some of its materials were reused in the construction, resulting in a work that mixes archaic Ottoman elements with new

Ottoman Baroque Ottoman Baroque architecture, also known as Turkish Baroque, was a period in Ottoman architecture in the 18th century and early 19th century which was influenced by European Baroque architecture. Preceded by the changes of the Tulip Period and Tul ...

ones. Following the

1855 Bursa earthquake The 1855 Bursa earthquake occurred on 28 February, with an estimated magnitude of 7.02±0.64 A devastating precursor quake that took place in Mustafakemalpaşa, a town of Bursa Province, in Turkey caused severe destruction all over Bursa and othe ...

, the Emir Sultan Mosque and the mausoleum () were once again rebuilt in 1868 (1285 AH), this time in a pure Baroque style, in for Sultan

Abdülaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 1876 Ottoman coup d'état, overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother ...

Architecture

The mosque and mausoleum stand on opposite sides of a long courtyard with large ''

şadırvan A shadirvan (, , ) is a type of fountain that is usually built in the courtyard or near the entrance of mosques, caravanserais, khanqahs, and madrasas, with the main purpose of providing water for drinking or ritual ablutions to several peop ...

'' (ablutions fountain) at the entrance. The courtyard entrances are at the east and west ends, and the mosque and mausoleum are accessed via the courtyard. A wooden arcade with pointed arches wraps around the courtyard and rises to form portals with tall domes in the bays leading into the buildings. The mosque, to the south of the courtyard, is a tall single-unit prayer hall of masonry construction with two

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

s at the northern corners. The mausoleum, also on the south side, is composed of a domed room in the centre with smaller rooms to its sides and houses the tombs of Emir Sultan and his family. Other rooms on the north corner of the courtyard are used by the

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

s. An Ottoman cemetery flows downhill from the complex. Hundi Hatun, the wife of Emir Sultan and daughter of Bayezid I, was responsible for the

hamam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the Islamic culture, culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

to the south of the mosque. There are several historic fountains scattered around the complex (

külliye A külliye () is a complex of buildings associated with Turkish architecture centered on a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a waqf (charitable foundation) and composed of a madrasa, a Dar al-Shifa (clinic), kitchens ...

), the earliest dating from 1743. One of them appears in a drawing by the British traveller and artist

Thomas Allom Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical view, topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many bui ...

. File:Emir Sultan Camii 7083.jpg, Emir Sultan Mosque: interior File:Emir Sultan mosque panorama.jpg, Emir Sultan Mosque: interior File:Emir Sultan Camii 7105.jpg, Emir Sultan Mosque: courtyard File:Bursa Emir Sultan Türbesi 7095.jpg, Mausoleum of Emir Sultan within mosque complex

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Baykal, Kazım. 1982 (Edited reprint of original from 1950). ''Bursa ve Anıtları''. Istanbul: Türkiye Anıt Çevre Turizm Değerlerini Koruma Vakfı. *Taylor, Jane. 1998 (revised edition). ''Imperial Istanbul : a traveler's guide, includes Iznik, Bursa and Edirne''. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers. *Gabriel, Albert. 1958. ''Une Capitale Turque, Brousse, Bursa''. Paris, E. de Boccard.

External links

Photos of Emir Sultan mosque

The mosque in 38 pictures
{{Authority control 15th-century mosques in Turkey Mosques completed in 1904 Ottoman mosques in Bursa Tourist attractions in Bursa Mosque buildings with domes in Turkey Yıldırım, Bursa Baroque mosques of the Ottoman Empire 20th-century mosques in Turkey Mosque buildings with minarets in Turkey