FATIH MOSQUE-THE FAMOUS OPEN AIR GRAVESTONES MUSEUM OF ISTANBUL
Fatih mosque, considered the first mosque built by Ottoman dynasty as called “ Selatin “ in Istanbul, is located in the oldest & biggest districts of Istanbul as a large complex-kulliye-built by Mehmet II who was the conqueror of Contaniople in 1453. The complex was a huge place with 17 madrasahs, hospitals, shopping moles, guest house , a library, a charity kitchen and a big bath made on one of the seven hills of Istanbul. Complexes are very important in Ottoman way of life due to perform a significant mission as they respond to all kinds of human needs. While the mosque, situated in the center of the complex as the core, serves to satisfy the spirutal needs, it also admits people from all wallks of life without discrimination and helps them mature and unite a collective understanding. Madrasahs saved people fron ignorance by equipping them with natural & religious sciences, the guests houses entertain scientists coming from other cities, the charity kitchen deliver the meals to the poor, the library, the shopping mall, the hospital and the bath and the other buildings turn the complex into a center of attraction. Mehmet II, his title conqueror of Constantinople, is both the conqueror and builder of Istanbul with many other cities. During his 30 years reign, he ordered the construction of 300 hundred mosques, 57 madrasahs, 29 shopping malls, palaces, towers, castles, bridges and city walls in various cities across the empire especially in Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa. According to the historians about 800 monuments have been built by the order of the sultan in 30 years. Fatih mosque was built just after the conquest on one of the seven hills of Istanbul as the headquarter of a big comlex for 6 years. The place , where Fatih mosque was built, used to be location of apostles church in Byzantine era as one of the old settlements of Constantinople.The mosque is an important example in many ways seperated from Edirne and Bursa mosques which was built in 1470 AD. The mosque is the most important one of its time because of designed as the largest mosque in size with the külliye.The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake in 1766 and badly damaged and Ottoman sultan had the mosque built again with the original fragments with the new additions. It was forbidden to be buried in Sultanate mosques of which were made by sultans for civillians until 19th century so only the Sultans in their domed shrines and dynasty members in the graveyards of the mosques have been buried therefore the graveyards of the sultanate mosques were kept and could not turn into the big cemeteries. 19th century was, in many respects, a century when changes were experienced by Ottoman soceity. Cemetery culture also received its own share from these changes.The most radical change was the dead elite class people began to be buried in sultanete mosques built by sultans in this century. While tombs and graveyards were encountered in various parts of the city previously , this approach changed from the mid-19th century onwards and Mahmut II cemetery in Cemberlitaş & Abide-i Hürriyet were formed where the leaders of Young Turks wrialsere buired. Fatih mosque was open for the burial of the famous pashas, poets, calligraphers, heros of wars, intellectuals, artists, and well-known grand viziers so Fatih mosque graveyard has become the permanent the resting place of many of the leading Ottoman scholars, scientists, intellectuals and administrators. The people buied in the graveyard of Fatih mosque can be classified into four major groups in terms of their professions ; scholars, sufis, soldiers & bureucrats as the elite statesmen of the empire and craftsmen. The scholars are composed of the people madrasah origin such as Sheikh-ul İslam –minister of islamic laws, the chief military judges and the professors in the madrasahs. The second groups are the sufis as the warden of Fatih’s mauseleum till they died and the leaders of Ottoman sects mainly Mawlavi orders. The third groups in the graveyard is the bureacratic class members who performed various tasks of Ottoman bureacracy such as prime ministers, state governors as the elites. The famous craftsmen such as calligraphers, artists, novelists, musicians and thinkers make the fourth class in the large graveyard. The well-known shrines and gravestones worth visiting are ; the mauseleum of Mehmet II located at the right side of the mosque with a nice sarcophagus in and it used to be recited Koran for 24 hours. The original shrine was damaged by the fire happened in 1781 and it was rebuilt in 1784 by the help of local inhabitants as well as it was furnished by Italian interior designers in 1911. The another shrines located in Fatih mosque’s graveyards are ; Gulbahar Hatun’s shrine- one of the viwes of Mehmet II and she was Serbian origin trained in the harem and got married with Mehmet II, and Gazi osman Pasha’s shrine- a famous Ottoman pasha who was the commander of Ottoman troops during the war of 1877-1878 with Russian forces and he resisted against the Russian forces for months without getting any help from Istanbul. The best gravestones in the graveyards are ; Ali Nusret Bey’s cylindrical gravestone with pen & ink pen holders carved on the stone, Hattat Sami Effendi’s gravestone with Fes headgear is one of the best examples of calligraphy, Abdurahman Nafiz Pasha’s head & foot gravestones with splendid written inscriptions & carvings and Mehmet Nafiz Pasha’s headstone in sailing form with Ottoman flag.
Fatih mosque, considered the first mosque built by Ottoman dynasty as called “ Selatin “ in Istanbul, is located in the oldest & biggest districts of Istanbul as a large complex-kulliye-built by Mehmet II who was the conqueror of Contaniople in 1453. The complex was a huge place with 17 madrasahs, hospitals, shopping moles, guest house , a library, a charity kitchen and a big bath made on one of the seven hills of Istanbul. Complexes are very important in Ottoman way of life due to perform a significant mission as they respond to all kinds of human needs. While the mosque, situated in the center of the complex as the core, serves to satisfy the spirutal needs, it also admits people from all wallks of life without discrimination and helps them mature and unite a collective understanding. Madrasahs saved people fron ignorance by equipping them with natural & religious sciences, the guests houses entertain scientists coming from other cities, the charity kitchen deliver the meals to the poor, the library, the shopping mall, the hospital and the bath and the other buildings turn the complex into a center of attraction. Mehmet II, his title conqueror of Constantinople, is both the conqueror and builder of Istanbul with many other cities. During his 30 years reign, he ordered the construction of 300 hundred mosques, 57 madrasahs, 29 shopping malls, palaces, towers, castles, bridges and city walls in various cities across the empire especially in Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa. According to the historians about 800 monuments have been built by the order of the sultan in 30 years. Fatih mosque was built just after the conquest on one of the seven hills of Istanbul as the headquarter of a big comlex for 6 years. The place , where Fatih mosque was built, used to be location of apostles church in Byzantine era as one of the old settlements of Constantinople.The mosque is an important example in many ways seperated from Edirne and Bursa mosques which was built in 1470 AD. The mosque is the most important one of its time because of designed as the largest mosque in size with the külliye.The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake in 1766 and badly damaged and Ottoman sultan had the mosque built again with the original fragments with the new additions. It was forbidden to be buried in Sultanate mosques of which were made by sultans for civillians until 19th century so only the Sultans in their domed shrines and dynasty members in the graveyards of the mosques have been buried therefore the graveyards of the sultanate mosques were kept and could not turn into the big cemeteries. 19th century was, in many respects, a century when changes were experienced by Ottoman soceity. Cemetery culture also received its own share from these changes.The most radical change was the dead elite class people began to be buried in sultanete mosques built by sultans in this century. While tombs and graveyards were encountered in various parts of the city previously , this approach changed from the mid-19th century onwards and Mahmut II cemetery in Cemberlitaş & Abide-i Hürriyet were formed where the leaders of Young Turks wrialsere buired. Fatih mosque was open for the burial of the famous pashas, poets, calligraphers, heros of wars, intellectuals, artists, and well-known grand viziers so Fatih mosque graveyard has become the permanent the resting place of many of the leading Ottoman scholars, scientists, intellectuals and administrators. The people buied in the graveyard of Fatih mosque can be classified into four major groups in terms of their professions ; scholars, sufis, soldiers & bureucrats as the elite statesmen of the empire and craftsmen. The scholars are composed of the people madrasah origin such as Sheikh-ul İslam –minister of islamic laws, the chief military judges and the professors in the madrasahs. The second groups are the sufis as the warden of Fatih’s mauseleum till they died and the leaders of Ottoman sects mainly Mawlavi orders. The third groups in the graveyard is the bureacratic class members who performed various tasks of Ottoman bureacracy such as prime ministers, state governors as the elites. The famous craftsmen such as calligraphers, artists, novelists, musicians and thinkers make the fourth class in the large graveyard. The well-known shrines and gravestones worth visiting are ; the mauseleum of Mehmet II located at the right side of the mosque with a nice sarcophagus in and it used to be recited Koran for 24 hours. The original shrine was damaged by the fire happened in 1781 and it was rebuilt in 1784 by the help of local inhabitants as well as it was furnished by Italian interior designers in 1911. The another shrines located in Fatih mosque’s graveyards are ; Gulbahar Hatun’s shrine- one of the viwes of Mehmet II and she was Serbian origin trained in the harem and got married with Mehmet II, and Gazi osman Pasha’s shrine- a famous Ottoman pasha who was the commander of Ottoman troops during the war of 1877-1878 with Russian forces and he resisted against the Russian forces for months without getting any help from Istanbul. The best gravestones in the graveyards are ; Ali Nusret Bey’s cylindrical gravestone with pen & ink pen holders carved on the stone, Hattat Sami Effendi’s gravestone with Fes headgear is one of the best examples of calligraphy, Abdurahman Nafiz Pasha’s head & foot gravestones with splendid written inscriptions & carvings and Mehmet Nafiz Pasha’s headstone in sailing form with Ottoman flag.
