Istanbul Mosques
Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
 | Arab Mosque. The building behind the trees is the Arab Mosque, the oldest mosque in town, built in 717. |
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 | Atik Ali Pasa Mosque. Built 1497. |
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 | Azapkapi Mosque, built 1578. |
 | Bayezit Mosque. Built from 1479-1505. |
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 | Left and below, Mosque of Bayezit in the snow. |
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 | Cerrahpasa Mosque |
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 | Cihangir Mosque, built in 1553 |
 | Cihangir Mosque |
 | Davut Pasa Mosque, built 1485. |
 | Dolmabahce Mosque, built 1853. |
 | Dolmabahce Mosque |
 | Eski Valide Mosque, built in 1583 |
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 | Faience Mosque, built in 1640. So called for its elaborate ceramic tile decoration. |
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 | Fethiye Mosque, Mosque of the Conquest, originally the Church of the Blessed Virgin, built around 1100-1200. Was the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate from 1455 to 1591 (after the church at St. Sophia had been converted into a mosque). In 1591 this church became a mosque. The main part is still a mosque, but a side hall is a museum with some nice mosaics. |
 | Hekimoglu Ali Pasa Mosque, built in 1735. |
 | View of the dome |
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 | Imrahor Mosque, originally a church built in 1264, turned into a mosque in 1500, and abandoned after an earthquake in 1894. |
 | Kilic Ali Pasa Mosque |
 | Mahmut-Pasa Mosque, built in 1476 |
 | Maseki Mosque, built in the 1500's. Unusual in that it has no minaret. |
 | Mihrimar Mosque, built in 1548. Main dome is 120 feet high. |
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 | Molla Celebi Mosque |
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 | Molla Celebi Mosque |
 | Mollazeyrek Mosque, the former Church of St. Saviour Pantocrator, built about 900-1000. |
 | Mosque of Roses. Originally the Church of St. Theodosia, built in the 8th century. |
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 | Mosque of the Conqueror. Built 1463-70, destroyed by an earthquake in 1677, rebuilt 1767-1771.
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| Mosques are very bare inside, the only furnishings being prayer rugs (which cover the whole floor) and a pulpit for the reader. In spite of this mosque's large size, it has few foreign visitors, and I stood out like a sore thumb the day I went there. I was approached by a shriveled old man who was a teacher at the mosque and who was learning English. We got into a somewhat halting conversation, during which he asked if there were any mosques in the U.S. I said that for the most part we had churches instead. | He said "Ah, yes, churches - very dark inside. Mosques are very light." I was somewhat surprised, as I (and my camera's light meter) had always thought it was the other way around. After thinking about it, I suddenly realized he was right. Mosques admit a great deal of natural light. Churches are better lighted, but they need artificial light. It's all in the way you look at it, I guess. He reminded me of Sam Jaffe in "Gunga Din" By the way, that was not at all an unusual experience. I often had Turks who spoke a little English or German come up and strike up a conversation. |
 | Mosque of the Princes. Built from 1544 to 1548 |
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 | Mosque of the Princes |
 | Murat Pasa Mosque |
 | Murat Pasa Mosque |
 | New (Yeni) Mosque. Built from 1597 to 1663 |
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 | Nuruosmaniye Mosque, built from 1748 to 1755. |
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 | Nuruosmaniye Mosque. |
 | Nusretiye Mosque, built in 1873. |
14~30 Istanbul  | Nusretiye Mosque  |
14~31 Istanbul  | Nusretiye Mosque |
 | Ortakoy Mosque |
 | Rumi Mehmet Pasa Mosque, built in 1481. |
 | Rumi Mehmet Pasa Mosque |
 | Rustem Pasa Mosque, built in 1550 and hard to get to because it's surrounded by a maze of narrow alleys. |
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 | Semsi Pasa Mosque, Built in 1580 |
 | Semsi Pasa Mosque |
 | Sinan Pasa Mosque, built by the great Turkish master architect Sinan for the Turkish admiral Sinan Pasa, so it's named for the admiral, not the architect. |
 | Sisli Mosque |
 | Sisli Mosque |
 | Sokullum-Mehmet Pasa Mosque, built in 1571. |
 | Sokullum-Mehmet Pasa Mosque |
 | Sultan Selim Mosque. Built in the mid 1500�s. |
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 | Sultan Selim Mosque |
 | Tulip (Laleli) Mosque, built in 1760-63. |
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 | Tulip Mosque, built in 1760-63. |
 | Valide or Aksaray Valide Mosque. Built in 1873, and in my opinion one of the most beautifully decorated mosques in town, although guidebooks dismiss it as a hybrid of Islamic and Victorian kitsch. |
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 | Valide Mosque |
 | Yeni Valide Mosque. Yeni Valide Mosque, built in 1707-1710. Eski means old, Yeni means new and Valide, to complete the Turkish lesson, means a Sultan's mother. Our title for it would probably be Queen Mother |
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 | Yeni Valide Mosque |
 | Yildiz Mosque |
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Created 19 December 2003, Last Update 24 May 2020