Dictionary of islamic architecture

particular some of the Bosphorus mansions.
Later Period
In the last years of the sixteenth century and the first
years of the seventeenth century Ottoman
architecture continued to use the forms and style
developed by Sinan during the Classical period. Thus
the Yeni Valide complex built by Sinan’s successor
Davut is a copy of the Sehzade Mosque with a few
alterations to the size and shape of the courtyard.
The most famous building in this late classical style
is the Sultan Ahmet Cami in Istanbul also known as
the Blue Mosque begun in 1609 and completed in
1617. The most distinctive feature of this building is
the use of six minarets instead of the previous
maximum of four. It is roofed with the quatrefoil
design used in the Sehzade Cami with four huge
cylindrical fluted piers supporting the 23.5 m dome
(considerably smaller than the Selimiye). The plan
has several weaknesses, the most notable of which
is the way the mihrab is placed in the middle of a
flat wall without any architectural emphasis. Also
the portico is not raised to the level of the central
domed area thus making the mosque and courtyard
seem like two independent units rather than a
gradual development of mass.
From the end of the sixteenth century slavish
copying of the Classical style was gradually
replaced; characteristic features of the new style are
flamboyant decoration, increased use of windows
and curves, and growing European influences. The
most famous example is the Nuruosmaniye Cami
in Istanbul completed in 1755. The plan of this
building is still based on the square covered by a
dome but the strict geometry of the Classical period
is modified, thus there are small projecting wings
either end of the qibla wall and the mihrab is located
in a curved apse in a manner similar to that of the
Selimiye in Edirne although here the apse is curved.
The recessed porches, which in earlier mosques
would have been filled with muqarnas mouldings,
are here filled with carved acanthus leaves. The
most striking feature of the building is the courtyard
which is built in a curved D-shape with the straight
side forming the portico of the mosque. The
courtyard is also unusual because the domes above
the two north entrances are pierced with a series of
arched windows which add to the light coming
from the trefoil arched windows at the sides. The
absence of a central fountain and the positioning
of the mosque on an irregular-shaped terrace add
to the surprise of this building. Other eighteenth-
and nineteenth-century mosques, however,
retained the strict square geometry which was now
prescribed by the religious orthodoxy as the
necessary form for a mosque. Thus the Laleli Cami
and complex built ten years later in 1783 has a
conventional plan, although this is modified by
making the prayer hall rectangular instead of
square, by cutting off the two side aisles either side
of the main dome and making them into external
arcades. The apse form of the mihrab area used in
the Nuruosmaniye is retained although here it has

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a square form similar to the Selimiye in Edirne
instead of the curved form of the Nuruosmaniye.
The Laleli is also noticeable for its use of Ionic capitals
instead of the muqarnas capitals preferred in the
Classical period.
Several methods were used to break away from
the enforced geometry of the square domed unit; one
method was to give an undulating curved form to
the outer edges of domes. This was a technique
which was first used on the wooden roofs of sebils
(fountains) and kiosks such as that on the tomb of
Mehmet II rebuilt in 1784. The use of this technique
on mosque domes can be seen on the Beylerbey Cami
of 1778 and in an extravagant form at the Iliyas Bey
Cami built in 1812. Similar techniques were used for
windows and arches which had undulating curves
hung as drapery in the European manner. Outside
the strict boundaries of orthodoxy there was more
room for experimentation, thus the Küsük Efendi
complex in Istanbul was built for dervishes and has
a radical plan. The building, completed in 1825,
consists of an oval structure which combines a
mosque and dervish dance hall.
The nineteenth century saw the emergence of new
building forms and types influenced by Europe. The
most successful of these new forms was the clock
tower which by the beginning of the First World War
had been established in Ottoman cities throughout
the empire. The earliest example was a three-storey
wooden tower outside the Nusretiye Cami in
Istanbul, other early examples are at Yozgat and
Adana. The extent of European influence can be seen
in the decision to move the royal residence from the
Topkapisarai in old Istanbul to the newly fashionable
banks of the Bosphorus. The new residence known
as the Dolmabahse Palace was built in 1853 in the
European Classical style with a colonnaded façade
looking out over the water. The palace stretches out
along the side of the Bosphorus in a series of blocks
or wings, the most famous of which is the throne
room measuring 44 by 46 m.
Increased European interest in Ottoman and
Seljuk architecture also stimulated an interest in
revivalist architecture. One of the earliest examples
of revivalism in Turkish architecture is the palace
of Ishak Pasha at Dogubayazit in eastern Anatolia
completed in 1784. This imposing building, set
against the backdrop of Mount Ararat, recalls the
Seljuk architecture of eastern Anatolia with carved
animals and huge monumental doorways.
However, this building is exceptional and it is not
until the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries that revivalism becomes established as a
style in Ottoman art. Notable examples are the Vakif
Han built by Kemalettin in 1914 and the Istanbul
main post office built in 1909. Both these buildings
incorporate medieval and early Ottoman features
in buildings made using modern methods and
materials.