Dictionary of islamic architecture

Kapiaga Madrassa, Amasya, Turkey (sixteenth century)

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Ottomans (Turkish: Osmanli)
Hisar, the fortress built by Mehmet II to control the
Bosphorus before the conquest of Constantinople.
The building consists of a huge enclosure
(approximately 220 by 100 m) formed by three huge
towers (two semi-circular and one polygonal)
linked by a tall crenellated wall strengthened by
interval towers or bastions. The interior was filled
with a mosque and a large number of wooden
buildings which have now disappeared. The
bastions and towers represent a variety of different
shapes and designs which suggest that the fortress
was built by a number of individuals working to a
broad general design rather than a detailed
architect’s plan. Bridges on the other hand tended
to be built to a standard plan which was applied to
a variety of situations. The most famous bridge of
the period is that of Büyük-sekmice to the west of
Istanbul; built by Sinan in 1566, it consists of a series
of four humped bridges resting on three artificial
islands. At the west end of the bridge there is a
rectangular caravanserai covered with a wooden
gabled roof. Other important caravanserais of the
period include the Sokollu Mehmed Pasha
Caravanserai at Lüleburgaz and the Selim II
complex at Payas in eastern Anatolia both built by
Sinan. One area where secular architecture was
innovative and influential was in the imperial
palace or Topkapisarai. This building was
established as the centre of imperial power soon
after Mehmed II entered Istanbul and remained the
centre until the collapse of Ottoman power in the
twentieth century. Several parts of the fifteenth-
century palace remain, the most important of which
is the Sinili Kiosk built in 1473. This pavilion, based
on a four-iwan plan, was designed by a Persian
architect and decorated with blue glazed bricks in
Timurid style. The building influenced much of the
subsequent domestic architecture of Istanbul, in