Mihrimah Edirnekapı Mosque: An Ottoman Imperial Mosque in Istanbul
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Turkey
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Ottoman
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Mosque
On this page13 sections
History
Mihrimah Edirnekapı Mosque is a sixteenth-century Ottoman mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, built for Mihrimah Sultan by Mimar Sinan, the Ottoman Empire’s chief imperial architect. Standing near the Byzantine land walls on the summit of the city’s Sixth Hill, close to Istanbul’s highest point, it belongs to the empire’s mature sixteenth-century imperial period and became a prominent landmark. Its charitable complex also served poorer communities through religious, educational, commercial, bathing, and funerary facilities.
Mihrimah Sultan and the Foundation
Mihrimah Sultan was the only daughter of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Hürrem Sultan, an influential member of the Ottoman imperial household. She commissioned two mosques bearing her name. The first was built in Üsküdar between 1546 and 1548, while the larger mosque at Edirnekapı followed the death of her husband, Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha, in 1561. After inheriting his wealth, Mihrimah became one of the richest women in the Ottoman Empire.
Construction at Edirnekapı began around 1562 or 1563 and was completed by about 1570. No foundation inscription survives. Earlier proposals that placed construction between 1540 and 1550 were superseded by documentary evidence supporting this later period. The mosque originally stood at the center of a külliye, an Ottoman charitable complex organized around a major religious institution. Its associated buildings included a medrese, an institution for religious and scholarly education, a double public bath, a tomb, and shops beneath the mosque terrace. Rent from the shops supported the complex, while the bath and other facilities operated without charge. The bath remains in use.
Earthquake Damage and Restoration
Earthquakes repeatedly altered the mosque and its associated buildings. In 1719, parts of the minaret stairs were destroyed. The 1766 earthquake brought down the minaret and the main dome. In 1894, the minaret fell through the mosque roof and damaged its northwest corner. Restoration in 1956 and 1957 repaired the mosque, although its subsidiary buildings received less attention.
The 1999 İzmit earthquake damaged the dome and the upper section of the minaret. Work carried out between 2007 and 2010 repaired the mosque and the upper minaret. A later phase repaved the courtyard, restored its central fountain, and rebuilt the outer portico. The mosque had originally possessed two porticoes, but only the inner one survived.
Burial and Later Tradition
Mihrimah Sultan was not buried in either mosque. She died on 25 January 1578 and was interred beside her father at the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. The ruined tomb behind the Edirnekapı mosque contains the graves of her son-in-law, Grand Vizier Semiz Ali Pasha, her daughter Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan, her grandsons Mehmed Bey, Şehid Mustafa Pasha, and Osman Bey, and other members of her family.
A later tradition claims that Sinan secretly loved Mihrimah and designed the two mosques as an expression of that love. In this story, the single minaret at Edirnekapı represents his supposed solitude. The mosque is also linked to the sunset on 21 March, Mihrimah’s birthday, while the Üsküdar mosque is associated with the moonrise. No evidence supports the claim that Sinan loved Mihrimah, and the suggestion that he built the mosques without the sultan’s authorization is implausible.
Remains
The Mosque and Courtyard
Terrace, Courtyard, and Entrance
The mosque occupies a terrace overlooking the main street. Its large courtyard is enclosed by a portico divided into individual cells that formed the medrese. The courtyard has not survived in its original form, but its large şadırvan, a fountain used for ritual ablutions before prayer, remains in place. Entrance is through an imposing seven-domed porch supported by marble and granite columns.
Prayer Hall
The prayer hall has a square or cubic plan covered by a hemispherical dome. The exterior dome is approximately 20 metres in diameter and rises 37 metres high. Four towers, one at each corner, support the dome, and windows appear at their bases. Symmetrical groups of windows, arranged in the upper wall surfaces on all four sides, reinforce the building’s balanced design.
Interior Light and Fittings
Extensive window openings occupy much of the wall surface and make the interior exceptionally bright, placing it among the most light-filled interiors in Sinan’s work. Some windows contain colored stained glass, and the building is described as having 161 windows. Wooden shutters and doors carry mother-of-pearl and ivory inlay. The marble minbar, the pulpit used for the Friday sermon, is original to the construction, while the stone mihrab, the prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca, represents Sinan’s classical Ottoman style. Much of the stencil decoration and ornament is modern or was renewed during later restoration, including work undertaken during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II, who ruled from 1876 to 1909.
Arcades and Associated Buildings
Side Arcades and Galleries
Triple arcades extend along the north and south sides of the prayer hall. Granite columns carry these arcades, which open onto side aisles with galleries above. Each side contains three domed bays, forming part of the mosque’s carefully ordered interior and external structure.
Minaret
A single tall, slender minaret rises beside the mosque. A second minaret was initially planned but never built. The surviving minaret collapsed through the mosque roof during the 1894 earthquake and has since been fully restored.
Tomb and Commercial Facilities
A ruined türbe, a purpose-built tomb or mausoleum, stands behind the mosque and contains the family graves associated with Mihrimah Sultan. The original complex also included a double hamam, or public bath, and a row of shops beneath the terrace. These commercial and bathing facilities formed part of the foundation’s charitable organization, while the bath continues to operate.
