The Tiled Kiosk () is a

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

set within the outer walls of

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...

and dates from 1472 as shown on the tile inscript above the main entrance. It was built by the Ottoman sultan

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

as a pleasure palace or

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

. It is located in the most outer parts of the palace, next to Gülhane Park. It was also called '' Glazed Kiosk'' (''Sırça Köşk''). It was used as the Imperial Museum (, ) between 1875 and 1891. In 1953, it was opened to the public as a museum of Turkish and Islamic art, and was later incorporated into the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, housing the Museum of Islamic Art. The pavilion contains many examples of

İznik İznik () is a municipality and district of Bursa Province, Turkey. Its area is 753 km2, and its population 44,236 (2022). The town is at the site of the ancient city of Nicaea, from which the modern name derives. The town lies in a fertile ...

tiles Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ot ...

and Seljuk pottery.

Architecture

The building has a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

shaped groundplan and two storeys high, although since the building straddles a declivity, only one floor is visible from the main entrance. The exterior glazed bricks show a

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

n influence, especially from the Bibi-Khanym Mosque in

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

. The square, axial plan represents the four corners of the world and symbolizes, in architectural terms, the universal authority and sovereignty of the Sultan. As there is no Byzantine influence, the building is ascribed to an unknown

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

n architect. The stone-framed brick and the polygonal pillars of the façade are typical of Persia. A grilled gate leads to the basement. Two flights of stairs above this gate lead to a roofed colonnaded terrace. This

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

was rebuilt in the 18th century. The great door in the middle, surrounded by a tiled green arch, leads to the vestibule and then to a loftily domed court. The three royal apartments are situated behind, with the middle apartment in apsidal form. These apartments look out over the park to the Bosphorus. The network of ribbed vaulting suggests

Gothic revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

, but it actually adds weight to the structure instead of sustaining it. The blue-and-white tiles on the wall are arranged in

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is de ...

s and triangles in the

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 ...

manner.Davis, pg. 267 Some show delicate patterns of flowers, leaves, clouds or other abstract forms. The white plasterwork is in the Persian manner. On both wings of the domed court are ''eyvans'', vaulted recesses open on one side.

Gallery

File:Tiled_Kiosk_exterior,_Istanbul_Archaeology_Museum.jpg, Tiled Kiosk entrance File:Tiled Kiosk 1227.jpg, Tiled Kiosk detail entrance File:Istanbul_PB076035raw_(4116523440).jpg, Tiled Kiosk detail entrance File:Istanbul_PB076063raw_(4115900313).jpg, Tiled Kiosk detail entrance File:Tiled Kiosk june 2018 6257.jpg, Tiled Kiosk detail entrance File:Tiled Kiosk 2802.jpg, Tiled Kiosk fountain File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 523.jpg, Iznik monochrome ware plate File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 1796.jpg, Iznik monochrome ware plate File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 525.jpg, Iznik monochrome ware plate File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 528.jpg, Iznik monochrome ware mosque lamp File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 529.jpg, Iznik monochrome ware mosque lamp File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 531.jpg, Iznik monochrome ware mosque lamp File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 533.jpg, Mosque lamp in polychrome File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 534.jpg, Mosque lamp in polychrome File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 537.jpg, Iznik plate in polychrome File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 539.jpg, Tile in polychrome File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 544.jpg, Iznik tile in polychrome File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 545.jpg, Iznik tile in polychrome File:Tiled Kiosk exhibit 553.jpg, Iznik ware in polychrome File:DSC04425b1_Istanbul_-_Museo_arch._-_Padiglione_ceramiche_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006.jpg File:Tiled mihrab niche in coloured glaze-technique, from Karamanoglu, in Tiled Kiosk collection istanbul.jpg, Tiled Kiosk mihrab File:Istanbul Tiled Kiosk or Çinili Kösk May 2014 8607.jpg, Tiled Kiosk detail File:Istanbul Cinili Museum 1780.jpg, Tiled Kiosk Çanakkale ware File:Istanbul Cinili Museum 1784.jpg, Tiled Kiosk Çanakkale ware

Admission

The museum is closed on Mondays. Opening hours are 9:00 to 17:00.

References

Literature

* Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture. Boston: Butterworths, 1987. . NA200.F63 1987. discussion p611 * John Julius Norwich, ed. Great Architecture of the World. New York: Random House, 1975. . NA200.G76. discussion, facade photo, p140. * John D. Hoag. Islamic Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1977. . LC 76-41805. NA380.H58. plan drawing, fig427, p324. Goodwin, 1971.

External links

Over 150 pictures

{{Authority control Topkapı Palace Museums in Istanbul Imperial residences in Turkey Buildings and structures completed in 1472 Fatih Museums established in 1953 1953 establishments in Turkey Art museums and galleries in Istanbul Islamic museums