Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City (51 page)

In the angle between these two avenues stands the attractive and ancient mosque of Murat Pa
ş
a, the second of the two mosques of the “Bursa type” that still exist in Istanbul. It is smaller and less elaborate than Mahmut Pa
ş
a Camii but resembles it in general plan: a long rectangular room divided by an arch into two squares each covered by a dome, with two small side-chambers to north and south forming a tabhane for travellers. Of the two large domes, the eastern one rests on pendentives with bold and deeply cut stalactites, but the western one has that curious arrangement of triangles which we have seen on the smaller domes at Mahmut Pa
ş
a. The porch has five domed bays with six very handsome ancient columns: two of Syenitic granite, four of verd antique. The capitals are of three different kinds, arranged symmetrically, two types of stalactites and the lozenge capital. The construction of the building is in courses of brick and stone. The pious foundation originally included a medrese and a large double hamam; but these have unfortunately perished in the widening of the adjacent streets.

The founder, Murat Pa
ş
a, was a convert from the imperial family of the Palaeologues; he became a vezir of Fatih and died in battle as a relatively young man. The date of construction of his mosque is given in an intricate inscription in Arabic over the main door – A.H. 874 (A.D. 1469) – later than Mahmut Pa
ş
a Camii by only seven years. The calligraphy in this inscription is exceptionally beautiful and is probably by Ali Sofi, who did the fine inscription over the Imperial Gate to the Saray.

Behind Murat Pa
ş
a Camii a large catacomb was discovered in 1972 during excavations for a sewer. Eight vaulted chambers were found extending over an area roughly 30 metres square. It is thought that there is a second storey of comparable size beneath the first, but this has not yet been explored. The catacomb is believed to date from the sixth century A.D. The catacomb was closed off soon after its discovery and now there is no trace of it visible.

A little farther up Millet Caddesi, on the same side of the avenue, we find a newly removed and reconstructed mosque of some interest. It was founded by Selçuk Hatun, daughter of Sultan Mehmet I and an aunt of Mehmet the Conqueror. Selçuk Hatun died in 1485 and so her mosque must be from about that date. In the seventeenth century the mosque was partly burned and then was reconstructed by the Chief Black Eunuch, Abbas A
ğ
a. In 1956, when Millet Caddesi was widened, the mosque was demolished and re-erected not far from its old site. How far the reconstructed building follows the old plan is not clear; at all events the mosque is rather attractive and the reconstruction at least adequate.

We now cross Millet Caddesi and continue south for a short distance until we come to Cerrah Pa
ş
a Caddesi, where we turn right and begin walking along the Marmara slope of the Seventh Hill. Here we leave the modern city behind, for the most part, and stroll through a more serene and old-fashioned quarter of Stamboul.

A short way along the left side of the avenue we come to an imposing mosque in its walled garden. This is Cerrah Pa
ş
a Camii, after which the avenue and the surrounding neighbourhood are named. Cerrah Mehmet Pa
ş
a, who founded it, had been a barber and therefore a surgeon (
cerrah
), having gotten this official title by performing the circumcision of the future Sultan Mehmet III. The latter in 1598 appointed him Grand Vezir and wrote him a letter warning him that he would be drawn and quartered if he did not do his duty. But he was only required to do his duty for six months or so, for he was dismissed – without being drawn and quartered – in consequence of the ill success of the war against Hungary.

An Arabic inscription over the door gives the date as A.H. 1002 (A.D. 1593); the architect was Davut A
ğ
a, Sinan’s successor as Chief Architect. One might rank Cerrah Pa
ş
a Camii among the half-dozen most successful of the vezirial mosques. Its plan presents an interesting modification of the hexagon-in-rectangle type. The four domes which flank the central dome at the corners, instead of being oriented along the diagonals of the rectangle, are parallel with the cross axis. This plan has the advantage that, for any hexagon, the width of the building can be increased without limit. Such a plan was never used by Sinan and is seen again only in Hekimo
ğ
lu Ali Pa
ş
a Camii, which is a little farther west on this same hill. The mihrab is in a rectangular apse which projects from the east wall. The galleries, which run around three sides of the building, are supported by pretty ogive arches with polychrome voussoirs of white stone and red conglomerate marble; in some of the spandrels there are very charming rosettes. In short, the interior is elegant in detail and gives a sense of spaciousness and light. The exterior, too, is impressive by its proportions, in spite of the ruined state of the porch and the unfortunate restoration job that was done on the domes and semidomes. The porch originally had seven bays and its eight handsome antique columns are still standing, four of Proconnesian marble, two of Theban granite, and two of Syenitic granite. The türbe of the founder, a simple octagonal building, is in front of the mosque beside the entrance gate. Nearby is a ruined
ş
ad
ı
rvan and outside in the corner of the precinct wall is a pretty çe
ş
me. The complex originally included an interesting hamam which unfortunately has been destroyed.

MEDRESE OF GEVHER HATUN

Immediately across the street is an interesting medrese which is not part of Cerrah Mehmet Pa
ş
a’s foundation. This was built in the second half of the sixteenth century by Gevher Sultan, daughter of Selim II and wife of the great admiral Piyale Pa
ş
a. This medrese, which has been restored, has the standard form of a rectangular porticoed courtyard with cells beyond.

COLUMN OF ARCAD
İ
US

We now continue along Cerrah Pa
ş
a Caddesi for another 100 metres and take the second turning on the right, Haseki Kad
ı
n Soka
ğ
ı
. A short distance up the street on the right we find the shapeless remains of the Column of Arcadius, wedged tightly between two houses and as tall as they are; its marble surface is rent and pitted and it is overgrown with a mantle of ivy. Erected in 402 by the Emperor Arcadius, the column was decorated with spiral bands of sculpture in bas relief representing the triumphs of the emperor, like Trajan’s column in Rome. It stood in the centre of an imperial forum called after Arcadius. At the top of the column, which was more than 50 metres high, there was an enormous Corinthian capital surmounted by an equestrian statue of Arcadius, placed there in 421 by his son, Theodosius II. This statue was eventually toppled from the column and destroyed during an earthquake in 704. The column itself remained standing for another 1,000 years until it was deliberately demolished in 1715, when it appeared to be in immanent danger of collapsing on the neighbouring houses. Now all that remains are the mutilated base and some fragments of sculpture from the column which are on display in the Archaeological Museum. It is possible to enter the interior of the base through a side door in the house to the left. Once inside the base, we can climb up an interior stairway to the top of the ruin, where there is still visible a short length of the column with barely discernible remnants of the sculptured decoration.

Leaving the column, we continue on along Haseki Kad
ı
n Soka
ğ
ı
to the end of the street. There we come to the külliye of Bayram Pa
ş
a, which is divided by the street itself; on the right are the medrese and mektep, and on the left the mescit, tekke, türbe, and sebil. An inscription on the sebil gives the date of construction as A.H. 1044 (A.D. 1634). At that time Bayram Pa
ş
a was Kaymakam, or Mayor, of the city; two years later he became Grand Vezir and soon after died on Murat IV’s expedition against Baghdad. At the corner to the left is the handsome sebil with five grilled openings; behind it is the really palatial türbe of the founder, looking rather like a small mosque. (It is said to have fine and original tiles; unfortunately it is shut up and inaccessible.) At the far end of the enclosed garden and graveyard stands the mescit surrounded on two sides by the porticoed cells of the dervish tekke. The mescit, is a large octagonal building which served also as the room where the dervishes performed their music and dance ceremonies. The whole complex is finely built of ashlar stone in the high classical manner and the very irregularity of its design makes it singularly attractive.

COMPLEX OF HASEK
İ
HÜRREM

Turning left at the corner and passing the külliye of Bayram Pa
ş
a, we come immediately to that of Haseki Hürrem, which is contiguous with it to the west. This külliye was built by Haseki Hürrem, the famous Roxelana, and is the third largest and most magnificent complex in the old city, ranking only after those of Fatih and Süleyman. The mosque and its dependencies were built by Sinan and completed in 1539, making these the earliest known works by him in the city. The mosque is disappointing: originally it consisted of a small square room covered by a dome on stalactited pendentives, preceded by a rather pretentious porch of five bays which overlapped the building at both ends. It may perhaps have had a certain elegance of proportion and detail. But in 1612 a second and identical room was added on the north, the north wall being removed and its place taken by a great arch supported on two columns. The mihrab was then moved to the middle of the new extended east wall so that it stands squeezed behind one of the columns. The result is distinctly unpleasing.

Not so the other buildings of the külliye which are magnificent: a medrese, a primary school, a public kitchen and a hospital. Moreover, most of the complex has been well restored. The medrese is immediately across the street from the mosque. It is of the usual type – a porticoed courtyard surrounded by the student’s cubicles and the dershane; but apart from its truly imperial size, it is singularly well-proportioned and excellent in detail. Its 20 columns are of granite, Proconnesian marble, and vend antique; their lozenge capitals are decorated with small rosettes and medallions of various elegant designs and here and there with a sort of serpentine garland motif, a quite unique design. Also unique are the two pairs of lotus flower capitals, their leaves spreading out at the top to support a sort of abacus; though soft and featureless, they make a not unattractive variation from the almost characterless lozenge. Two carved hemispherical bosses in the spandrels of the arcade call attention to the dershane, a monumental square room with a dome. The great charm of the courtyard must have been still greater when the faience panels with inscriptions were still in place in the lunettes of the windows; many years ago when the building was dilapidated they were removed to the museum and are now on display in the Çinili Kö
ş
k. Next to the medrese is the large and very oddly-shaped sibyan mektebi in two storeys with widely-projecting eaves.

The imaret, which was still in use up until the early 1970s, is beyond the mektep, entered through a monumental portal which leads to an alleyway. At the end of this, one enters the long rectangular courtyard of the imaret, shaded with trees. Vast kitchens with large domes and enormous chimneys (better seen from inside at the back) line three sides of the courtyard.