The New Mosque, the foundation of which was laid in Istanbul in 1597, is the last example of the great mosques built by the Ottoman sultans. Since the construction was interrupted for various reasons, it was completed in exactly 66 years and three different architects worked on its construction. The fact that the construction of the New Mosque Complex took many years caused different architects to have a share in the structure. The first construction was started by Davut Ağa, a student of Mimar Sinan, and the construction continued with Dalgıç Ahmet Ağa and it was completed half a century later by Mustafa Ağa.
Safiye Sultan, of Venetian origin, the wife of Sultan Murad III and mother of Mehmet III, wanted to have a mosque built in her name. She gave this task to Mimar Davut Ağa, a student of Mimar Sinan, the chief architect of the palace. In the area where the mosque is located, there used to be a Jewish Quarter extending towards Sirkeci.
There is no Seljuk influence in the architecture of the New Mosque. The influences of Mimar Sinan and Sedefkar Mehmet Ağa can be seen. However, it is distinguished from them by the harmony of its interior and exterior structures, the fineness of its decorations and the lighting system, and it has a unique feature. The square-planned Mosque has two minarets with three balconies and twenty-two small domes, and the courtyard frame has three domed entrances in three different directions. In the middle of the courtyard, there is a domed fountain made of marble. There were no significant deviations from the Ottoman classical architectural concept in the mosque’s decorations, and the outer courtyard wall of the Mosque was demolished in the second half of the 19th century to relieve the increasing Eminönü traffic.
The Interior of the New Mosque
The main dome of the mosque is placed on 4 elephant feet, 36 meters high and 17.5 meters in diameter, with 24 windows, and is placed on a white background. The location of the New Mosque Complex is undoubtedly one of the most crowded places in Istanbul. The area in front of the courtyard entrance of the mosque overlooking the Spice Bazaar is home to hundreds of pigeons, and hundreds of thousands of people from different cultures and identities who pass by every day enjoy the beauty of this historical place.
The New Mosque or Valide Sultan Mosque is a mosque in Istanbul, the foundation of which was laid in 1597 by the order of Safiye Sultan, the wife of Sultan Murad III, and was completed and opened for worship in 1665 with the great efforts and donations of Turhan Hatice Sultan, the mother of the then Sultan Mehmed IV.
One of the largest mosques built by the Ottoman sultans, the New Mosque in Eminönü, a unique work of art that is one of the historical silhouettes of Istanbul, is also flooded with visitors during Ramadan with its architecture and history. The New Mosque, also known as the Valide Sultan Mosque, is a 358-year-old Ottoman mosque.
Sarkis Balyan
Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque/Architect
The mosque, whose tender price was 159 million 738 thousand liras, is rising on an area of 7 thousand square meters. The mosque, which will have a total capacity of 20 thousand people with its indoor and outdoor areas, has classical architectural features. The mosque, whose architecture is imitated from Mimar Sinan's Süleymaniye Mosque, is being built using modern construction techniques.
The foundation of the New Mosque was laid in 1597. Safiye Sultan, who took over all the power and authority as the Valide Sultan with the accession of Sultan Mehmed III to the throne and even started to interfere in political affairs, decided to have a mosque built when she felt the desire to raise her honor through charity and good deeds.
There was a church and a synagogue within the construction boundaries of the mosque. It was decided that the houses to be expropriated would be paid twice the price and that two dilapidated temples would be repaired instead of the synagogue and church.
The plan of the new mosque is a more detailed version of the plan used by Mimar Sinan in the Şehzade Mosque and consists of four piers supporting a large dome in the middle and four half domes on the sides. This central dome, which covers a square area, and the spaces left at the corners of the four half domes are covered with small full domes.
The tiles inside the New Mosque are as numerous as those in the Sultanahmet Mosque. However, these tiles cannot be compared to the magnificent tiles of the 16th century. The walls of the ground floor and the maksure floor of the mosque are covered with tiles up to the Stalactite moldings of the first floor. The colors of these tiles are light and dark blue, white and a little green.
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