Unesco World Cultural Heritage of Edirne: Selimiye Mosque Complex
Edirne,
located in basin fed by the Tunca, Meriç, Arda and Ergene Rivers in the east of
Europe, is a city of history, culture and tourism, connecting Asia and Turkey
to Europe through the Balkans.
“The
Selimiye Mosque Complex”, built upon the order of Sultan Selim II between the
years 1568-1575 (976-982 AH), is a masterpiece of world architecture as well as
Turkish-Islamic architecture.
The
Selimiye Mosque was built by Sinan the Architect at the age of 80 and was
called “My Masterpiece” by Sinan. The structure consists of nine base units as
follows: the Selimiye Mosque, Dar’ul Kurra Madrasa, Dar’ul Hadis Madrasa,
Sıbyan (Primary) School, Arasta, the Clock House (Muvakkithane), the Library,
the courtyard with shadirvan and the outer courtyard. In this context, Arasta
Bazaar was built by Davut Aga the Architect during the reign of Murat III in
order to yield income for the mosque.
The
Mosque crowning Edirne was built on Kavak Square (also called Sarıbayır), where
the first Ottoman Palace of Edirne was located. This location is the most
visible area of the city and the Selimiye Mosque can therefore be seen all over
the city.
The
selection of the location shows that Sinan was a very important city planner as
well as an Architect. The famous traveller Evliya Çelebi indicates in his
travelogue that 27.760 rum pouches of money, that is, 550.000.000 coins were
spent for the construction of the mosque (Çelebi, 2006). Selim II’s life did
not last long enough for him to see the mosque and he died before he saw the mosque
completed. Sinan the Architect elevated the covered central structure scheme
with a single large dome in the Ottoman and World Architecture to its highest
level in the Selimiye Mosque Complex. Inside the Selimiye Mosque, the weight of
the enormous dome that is 42.30 m high from the ground up to the keystone and
has a diameter of around 31.50 m is distributed on eight pillars and buttresses
of a large arch. Four semi domes at the corners and a semi dome on the mihrab
support the central dome. The mosque is illuminated through hundreds of windows
lined up on the dome frame and facades. The contribution of the minarets
covering the dome from afar and strengthening the sense of verticality in the
mass composition plays a great role in making the structure legendary. The
minarets 85.67 m height above ground including the finial and 3.80 meters in
diameter have three sherefes (minaret balconies) with muqarnas. The minarets on
either side of the main door have independent three-ways with different
staircases reaching the sherefes. The minarets on the madrasas section have
single staircases. The minarets faced four directions of the main dome in this
structure for the first time and therefore provided an impressive facade
appearance. Placing the independent three-ways with different staircases
reaching the sherefes in minarets on the connection points of the main mass and
the courtyard created a legend that evokes nearly the whole structure and even
Edirne. The Sultan’s Mahfel is decorated with dazzling tiles. This structure
constitutes the culmination of aesthetics with its minbar that is a unique
example of marble work, the decoration tiles used in the interior, kalemisi
(hand ornamentation) and marble fountain (shadırvan) in the middle of the
courtyard surrounded by porticos. (Turan: 2013) Inside the mosque there is the
Muezzin Mahfel in the middle, the Sultan’s Mahfel on the left of the mihrab,
and the Library on the right. The collection of the library was formed by the
donation of approximately 270 books that belonged to Sultan Selim II and the
state. Today, manuscripts of Selimiye Manuscripts Library are kept here. There
are Primary School, Dar’ul Hadis and Dar’ul Kurra Madrasas in the large outdoor
courtyard surrounded by stone walls of Selimiye Mosque Complex. Today, Dar’ul
Hadis Madrasa serves as the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum and Dar’ul Kurra
Madrasa serves as the Selimiye Foundation Museum. The Selimiye Mosque Complex
is a cultural symbol that links the East and West in Ottoman Classical Culture
and is a signature of the city. The complex was included in the World Heritage
List by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on June 29, 2011 through
collaborative efforts of the Municipality of Edirne and the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism.
SINAN THE ARCHITECT
The world-famous Turkish Architect Sinan lived between 1490 and 1588 (890-996 AH) and witnessed the reigns of four sultans. Sinan was admitted to the Guild of Janissaries after being recruited as a devshirmeh from Ağırnas village in Kayseri during the reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim and joined expeditions to the East and the West organized by the state during this period and had the opportunity to see various cities and architectural works. Sinan the Architect had won the approval of Vizier Lutfi Pasha with the bridge he built across Prut River during Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent’s Karaboğdan According to the collection of biographies by Sai Chelebi, which quote Sinan The Architect, he built 81 mosques, 50 masjids, 55 madrasahs, 7 dar’ul kurras, 19 mausoleums, 14 imarets, 6 water ways – arches, 8 bridges, 16 caravanserais, 33 palaces and 37 Turkish Baths as the chief architect. The Other works of Sinan the Architect in Edirne are the Rustem Pasha Caravanserai, Semiz Ali Pasha Bazaar, Sokullu Bath, Saray (Kanuni) Bridge, Adalet Kasrı (Justice Hall) and Defterdar Mustafa Pasha Mosque. (Municipality of Edirne, 2014 (Moldavia) Expedition, and became chief architect on the recommendation of Lutfi Pasha upon his predecessor’s death.
Photos by Enver Şengül
Ender Bilar www.enderbilar.com
REFERENCES
1.
Turan Namık Sinan: Selimiye as an Imperial Symbol and Sinan’s Architectural
Review. Yeliz Okay (ed), In the Book for Edirne. Istanbul: Doğu Bookshop, 2013:
51-61
2.
Celebi E: Travelogue of Evliya Çelebi in Modern Turkish (Prepared by Ali
Kahraman - Yücel Dağlı) (Volume 3, Book 2) Istanbul: Publications of Yapı
Kredi, 2006: 575
3.
Municipality of Edirne. Edirne Tourism Guide. Edirne: Publications of the
Municipality of Edirne, 2014: 14
