Nuruosmaniye Mosque

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque () 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 () still stands. Surrounding the mosque is Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (). 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.
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. 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:
Location.
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) 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.
During the restoration campaign, several discoveries were made that further the status of the mosque as an architectural achievement and historic site:
Current role.
A historic site and notable landmark in Istanbul tourism, the mosque is used daily as a place of worship. In 2018 the Yeditepe Biennial art exhibition, organized under the administration of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, utilized the cistern of the complex to display works of art that showcased both traditional and modern Turkish art.