NURUOSMANİYE CAMİİ

Nuruosmaniye Camii, İstanbul'da inşa edilmiş ilk barok özellikli camidir. Çemberlitaş semtinde, Kapalıçarşı girişinde yer alır. 1748-1755 yıllarında inşa edilmiştir.

Batılılaşma eğilimlerinin mimaride ortaya çıkmaya başladığı bir devirde ortaya çıkan camii ve külliyesi, Osmanlı mimarisinde bir dönüm noktası sayılmaktadır.

Caminin yer aldığı alanda daha önce Osmanlı şeyhülislamlarından Hoca Sadettin Efendi’nin eşi Fatma Hatun’un mescidi bulunmaktaydı. Fatma Hatun Mescidi yıkılmaya yüz tutunca I. Mahmut’un emri ile yerine camii inşaatı başladı; Mustafa Ağa ve yardımcısı Simon Kalfa (Mimar Simeon) tarafından gerçekleştirilen inşaat; I. Mahmut’un ölümünden sonra üç yıllık saltanat süren kardeşi III. Osman zamanında “Nur-u Osmani” (Osmanlı’nın Nuru) adıyla tamamlandı. Adını, padişah III. Osman’dan ve caminin içindeki ışıktan aldığı söylenir.

Cami ile birlikte medrese, imarethane, kütüphane, türbe, çeşme ve sebilden oluşan bir külliye inşa edilmiştir. Çevresindeki birkaç dükkân da külliyeye dahildir. Barok sanatının etkisi kütüphane, türbe, çeşme ve sebilde de görülmektedir.

Mimari özellikler

Yüksek mermer merdivenlerle iki yönden camiye çıkılır. Barok üslupta inşa edilen camii, kare plan üzerine inşa edilmiştir. Harim kısmı (namaz kılmaya ayrılmış alan) tek bir kubbe ile örtülmüştür. İki yanda revaklı birer koridor bulunur ve bu koridorlardan harim kısmına birer giriş vardır.

Eteği 32 pencere ile çevrili olan ana kubbe 26 m çapındadır. Osmanlı camilerinde kullanılan en büyük kubbelerden biri olan bu kubbe, duvarların üstüne oturan kemerler tarafından taşınır. Kubbe kemerlerinin duvar üzerindeki bitiminde bir kuşak halinde Fetih Suresi yazılıdır. Kubbede ise En-Nur Suresi’nin 35. Ayeti yer alır: “Allah, göklerin ve yerin nurudur”.

Cami, beş sıra halindeki 174 pencere ile aydınlatılır. Pencereler, barok stilinde ve alçıdandır[3]. Beş kubbeli son cemaat yeri U biçimindedir. Cami yazıları Hattat Rasim, Abdülhalim, Müzehhip Ali, Mehmet Refi Efendi'nindir.

Mihrap, çıkıntılıdır ve klasik Osmanlı camilerinden farklı olarak çok köşelidir ve bir yarım kubbe ile kapanmıştır.

Mahfil katına, ana giriş kretsının iki yanındaki mermer merdivenlerden çıkılır. Mahfil katı balkonları doğu ve batı cephelerindeki iki koridor üzerinde uzanır. Hünkar mahfili, doğu koridorunun sonunda bulunur. Mahfile dışarıdan, padişahın atı üstünde camiye girişine yol veren rampalı bir giriş bağlanmıştır. Hünkar Mahfili, günümüzde Eminönü müftülüğüne hizmet verir.

Yapıya bitişik iki şerefeli iki minaresinin taş külahları bulunur. Kurşun yerine taş alemler ilk defa bu camide kullanılmıştır.

Cami, revaklı ve çok köşeli bir avluya sahiptir. Bu özelliği ile Osmanlı mimarisinde türünün tek örneğidir. Şadırvanı yoktur, önde ve arkada abdestlikleri vardır, ayrıca ek bir abdestlik giriş kapısı karşısında bodrumdadır. Avlu, Cağaloğlu ile Çemberlitaş arasında geçiş yolu olarak kullanılır.

Külliye yapıları

Camiinin güneyinde medrese ve imaret yapıları yan yana bulunur. Medrese, Osmanlı’daki sultani medreselerin (Sultan’ın yaptırdığı medrese) sonuncusudur. İmaretin olağanüstü büyük bacaları Nuruosmaniye’nin kent içindeki görsel etkisine katkıda bulunur. Bu iki yapı, günümüzde yatılı bir Kur’an kursu olarak kullanılır.

Türbe; I. Mahmud için inşa edilmeye başlamış; külliye inşaatı tamamlanmadan vefat eden padişah, Yeni Camii’nin avlusundaki, babasının da mezarının bulunduğu Valide Turhan Sultan türbesine gömülmüştür. 3 sene sonra şirpençeden vefat eden III. Osman’da kendi adının verildiği türbeye gömdürülmeyip babası ve kardeşinin mezarlarının bulunduğu Valide Sultan Türbesine gömüldü. Nuruosmaniye Camii içindeki türbede III. Osman’dan bir yıl önce hayatını kaybeden annesi Şehsuvar Sultan ile bazı şehzadelerin sandukaları bulunur.

Nuruosmaniye Camii kütüphanesi, Türkiye’de barok tasarımın en özgün örneklerinden birisi kabul edilir. Caminin iç avlusunda iki katlı bir yapıdır. Üst katı kütüphane, alt katı dükkân olarak kullanılır. Birisi okuyuculara, diğeri padişaha ayrılmış iki giriş kapısı vardır. Kütüphanede 5000'den fazla yazma ve basma eser vardır.

Nuruosmaniye Sebili, dairesel bir ana mekan ve yanındaki dikdörtgen bir alandan oluşan mermer bir yapıdır. 2003 yılında geçirdiği onarımdan sonra halı satış mekanı olarak kullanılmaktadır.

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque (Turkish: Nuruosmaniye Camii) is an 18th-century Ottoman mosque located in the Çemberlitaş neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2016 it was inscribed in the Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey. The dome of the mosque is extremely distinct, and the fourth largest in the city of Istanbul, behind the Hagia Sophia, Süleymaniye Mosque, and Fatih Mosque, respectively. The Nuruosmaniye mosque is part of a larger religious complex, or Külliye, acting as a centre of culture, religion, and education for the neighborhood. The first imperial mosque of Istanbul that integrated both Baroque and neoclassical elements in its construction, Nuruosmaniye Mosque was built in the Ottoman Baroque style.

The mosque's muqarnas and its curved courtyard show the influence of the Baroque. The mosque is located on Istanbul's second hill, site of the mosque of Fatma Huton; that mosque was burned due to a fire. In Constantinople, the area of the Nurosmaniye Mosque was close to the Forum of Constantine, where the Column of Constantine (Turkish: Çemberlitaş Sütunu) still stands. Surrounding the mosque is Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (Turkish: Kapalıçarşı). After the construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, the Nurosmaniye mosque was the first imperial mosque to be built in 100 years.

Architecture

Considered one of the finest examples of mosques in Ottoman-Baroque style, it was commissioned from the order of Sultan Mahmud I in 1748 and completed under his brother and successor Sultan Osman III in 1755. It was named Nuruosmaniye Mosque, meaning "The light of Osman", after Osman III, but also because of the 174 windows which illuminate the mosque's hall.[citation needed]

The prayer hall is covered by a single dome 25 metres (82 feet) in diameter and 43.50 meters (142.7 feet) high above the floor level. The mosque utilizes a system of iron bracing running up from the floor, through the walls, and to the ceiling of the dome. The mosque material is made out of cut stone and marble.[4] The general form of the building is described best as "straining everywhere to melt straight lines into curves." The complex has two minarets, each with two balconies. The courtyard of the mosque is designed in the shape of a horseshoe, unprecedented in Ottoman mosques.

The mosque contains library, madrasa, and a tomb, which are enclosed in a prescient with an irregular shape, therefore the sites slope downward in the north area. In the back-garden there is a Türbe (tomb) built for Shehsuvar Sultan, mother of Osman III, which also houses other royal family members. The other components of the complex are:

•The mosque has two gates, the east and west gate. The western gate also contains the fountain (sebil). Both gates open onto the Grand Bazaar, which allows a flow of traffic.

•The sebil is attached to the exterior wall of the compound, and was traditionally used for dispersing water to the public and for ablutions before prayer. It is currently used as a carpet store.

•The madrasa, (Islamic school) consisting of 20 domed rooms and one large classroom (dershane).

•The imaret, or public soup kitchen, which adjoins the madrasa.

•The library is a separate single story building in the Külliye, with a private entrance for the Sultan. The books and manuscripts, some of which are still held on site, are part of the larger Süleymaniye library. The works originally held there were personal collections of Mahmud I and Osman III with a total of 7,600 volumes of which 5052 are manuscripts.

•The Hünkâr Kasrı, a lodge for the sultan and royal family, is a three-story building with private access. In the case of the Nuruosmaniye mosque, the lodge has access to the Hünkâr Mahfili within the prayer hall.

•Lights: The windows lining the walls of the mosque allows natural light to travel through. The circular courtyard is another path the natural light flows through in. Additionally the circular Ottoman style lamps allows light at night.

•Ornaments: The muquarnas along the arches of the mosque are Baroque and major form of decoration. The mosque is lined with golden quranic calligraphy and has madallion with name of Allah and Prophet Muhammad on the pendentives of the structure. The two skinny minarets decorating the outside of the mosque are an example of Ottoman structure along with the main half dome and the mini half domes of the courtyard walls.

Location

Nuruosmaniye Mosque: Interior in the Ottoman Baroque style.

The mosque stands on the second hill of Istanbul. Since the mosque is elevated above the surrounding area, the entrance is up the stairs and to the gate. The location of the complex is one surrounded by many shops, businesses, and the Grand Bazaar. Being such a prosperous and commercially active area, the Sultan knew it would be a convenient location for Muslims to attend prayer. It would also serve as a reminder to the people of the presence of the state and the Sultan during a time of political and economic misfortune. Ahmed Resmî Efendi tells a story of the Sultan being greeted by a spiritual old man, prior to the building of the complex, who cried, prayed for his health, and praised him for deciding to build a mosque on that specific piece of ground. It was after this incident that the Sultan purportedly decided to begin construction. The complex is also located just across the street from the Gate 1 entrance to the Grand Bazaar. The Column of Constantine, the historic Gazi Atik Ali Pasha Mosque, and the modern day Çemberlitaş rail station are all located directly south of the mosque within 400 meters.

Restoration (2010–2012)

The complex has been re-decorated several times over the course of its life, but a combination of environmental factors, lack of maintenance, air pollution, and original building flaws substantially degraded the state of the complex. As a result, from 2010-2012 a 20 million lira (US$3.5 million)[10] renovation campaign was conducted by FOM group architects. The most severe issue of the complex was one of water. The leaking domes were resealed with a close-to-original lead coating and applied in traditional fashion, the drainage systems were cleared of rubble and revamped, and the basements were renovated. The walls of the mosque had been heavily blackened, required sand blasting and pressure washing. Other components of the mosque such as marble, timber, iron, and glass were cut and replaced if severely deteriorated.[citation needed]

During the restoration campaign, several discoveries were made that further the status of the mosque as an architectural achievement and historic site:

• In the process of scraping old deteriorated laminar ornaments, even older hand drawn ornaments were found, preserved, and set on display.[citation needed]

• The discovery of an active cistern underneath the mosque, which by word of Foundations Istanbul Provincial Director İbrahim Özekinci required the removal of "420 trucks’ worth of slime from the cistern. Then the magnificent gallery, cistern and water gauge became visible. The Ottomans used a modern system according to contemporary earthquake regulations." The cistern covers an area 2,242 square meters, boasts 825 square meters(8,880 sq.ft.) of usable area, and is being considered as a future location for a museum.

• It was discovered that the mosque sits on an older structure that was built using a bored-pile foundation. The oldest bored-pile foundation in the history of Turkish architecture found to date