Istanbul Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Complex

The mosque, built on the Kadırga slope between the Sultanahmet Mosque and the Little Hagia Sophia Mosque, in an area surrounded by a 2-meter wall, was built by Sokollu Mehmet Pasha and its architect was Mimar Sinan. Considered one of the most beautiful works of Mimar Sinan, the complex was built in 1571 by his wife in the name of Sokollu Mehmet Pasha, who served as the Grand Vizier to three sultans.

It has a single minaret and a single dome on a sloping land. The complex, built between streets consisting of steep slopes, also took advantage of this difficulty in terms of plan, and a rare richness was created by reaching the courtyard of the complex, which is entered from three streets and three different levels, by stairs. There is a domed fountain in the middle of the courtyard and madrasah rooms around it. The last congregation platform extends on both sides and the mosque is entered from the medium-sized entrance door in the middle.

The marble mihrab, which contrasts nicely with its simple design in the middle of the surrounding tile decoration, is flanked by embedded columns with bars on the sides and crowned with a pediment filled with rumi. The sound and lighting system of the mosque is perfect as in every Sinan mosque. Hacerülesved pieces are embedded in the mihrab, pulpit and dome sections of this mosque.

The interior of the mosque, whose facades are extremely plain, dazzles with its rich decorations. İznik tiles, which were produced with the underglaze technique and were the highest quality products of the period in terms of both pattern and color and glazing, constitute the most striking group among the decorations. The tiles in question can be divided into two groups in terms of content: stylized plant motifs and calligraphy compositions. The calligraphy compositions include various verses as well as some of the names of the Prophet, the word of unity, the word of testimony, the names of Allah, Muhammad, the four caliphs, Hasan and Hüseyin.

The pen works constitute the other important decoration group in the harim. In the dome and semi-domes, there are radial motifs developing from the circular line compositions in the center towards the skirts. In both the hand-drawn works and the malakari ornaments, geometric star interlaces that go on forever and compositions like şemse articulated with knots are used. All researchers agree that the six-supported scheme, which has existed in Ottoman architecture since the Edirne Üç Şerefeli Mosque (1447) and was applied by Sinan in many mosques, reached its most perfect form in this structure.

The lodge in the complex is one of the rare religious order structures remaining from the classical period of Ottoman architecture.

There is an old brick minaret with a collapsed top from the balcony section to the north of the mosque. When you enter from the courtyard gate on the Sultanahmet side and from the door opposite this gate and the staircase gate facing the qibla, you enter the courtyard from all three gates, passing through the madrasah portico. There are cemeteries at the entrances of the first two gates. In the graveyard located between the lodge and the mosque on the same level as the mosque, the descendants of the postnişins and their family members, as well as Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and İsmihan Sultan's son İbrâhim, are buried.

Photo Source: https://pbase.com/dosseman/sokollumehmet