16th-century Ottoman mosque with a central dome, 2 minarets and an old sundial on the rear wall.
Sultan Mosque: This complex, which is a magnificent example of the culture and social life of the Classical Ottoman Complex Architecture and consists of a mosque, soup kitchen, madrasah, bath, khankah and primary school, spread over a very wide area, was built by Ayşe Hafsa Sultan, the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent, in 929 Hijri, Miadi. It was built in 1522. The mosque and some of its attached buildings were completed in 1522, the bathhouse in 1538, and the hospital in 1539. Today, the landscaping of the Sultan Mosque has been done by Manisa Municipality and it hosts the annual Mesir Festival. The mosque is also visited by local and foreign tourists. The restoration works of the Sultan Mosque, which started in 2007 by the General Directorate of Foundations, was reopened for worship on Friday, March 21, 2008, during the 468th Mesir Festival.
The two-room infant school located to the northeast of the madrasah building, the bathhouse and dar-üş healing located to the north have survived to the present day in intact condition, thanks to the repairs made on various dates. The women’s and men’s sections of the bath have the same architectural arrangement. The cold and warm sections are side by side. There are seven lighting windows on the drum of the central dome of the hot section, and a lighting lantern is built in the middle of each dome.
The place of the hankah and almshouse buildings, which burned down in the fire during the War of Independence and were destroyed in the following years, were arranged as a park in the following years and named “Sultan Park”.
The mosque has two minarets with a single balcony. The minarets are at the two corners of the narthex and are 30 meters high and have thick bodies. The mosque consists of a harim covered with a central dome with a diameter of 12.30 meters, two side spaces covered with two lower domes, and a five-room narthex. All dome passages are provided with pandifs. The interior of the mosque is spacious and bright; It is eye-catching with its Rumi decorations, colorful borders, baroque decorations and tiles. The mihrab and pulpit of the mosque are made of marble. The pulpit is carved and embossed. The mihrab is decorated with plaster reliefs. Sultan Mosque is also known as Mesir Mosque because it is the mosque where mesur paste is distributed to the public. The emergence of mesir paste, which is considered a healing food, is based on a historical story.
Manisa Grand Mosque was built by architect Emet Bin Osman in 1366 on the instructions of Muzafferüddin İshak Bey, one of the Saruhanoğulları. In 1378, a madrasah was built adjacent to the mosque. Restoration work started on the mosque in 2018.
Hafsa Sultan, the wife of Yavuz Sultan Selim and the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent, who had a terminal illness, was healed with mesir paste prepared by the famous physician of the time, Merkez Efendi, who served as the administrator of the Sultan Mosque Complex, with a mixture of 41 types of spices.
The emergence of mesir paste, which is considered a healing food, is based on a historical story. Hafsa Sultan, the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent, caught an unknown disease in Manisa. To cure this disease, Merkez Efendi, the chief physician of the Sultan Mosque Madrasa, prepares a paste consisting of a mixture of 41 types of herbs and spices. This healing mixture, which has survived to this day under the name of Mesir paste, brought Hafsa Sultan back to health in a short time. Hafsa Sultan, known for her helpful personality, wants the mesir paste that helps her heal to be distributed to the public every year during Nevruz week. The paste wrapped in small papers is distributed to the public from the Sultan Mosque.
Another important work in the social complex is the darüşşifa. Darüşşifa is important as it is the first hospital built by women during the Ottoman period. The madrasa, one of the other units of the complex, is a 10-room building located to the north at the entrance of the main building. Other surviving units in the complex are; It is a primary school and a bath. The surviving units of the complex have survived to the present day after being repaired at various times.
The area where the hankah and almshouse buildings were located, which were destroyed by fire during the War of Independence, was organized as a park in the following years and opened as Sultan Park.
That perfect mosque fascinates me with its aura. As someone who has seen and visited many mosques, including Hagia Sophia, the Sultan Mosque has a very different effect.
While Suleiman the Magnificent was serving in Manisa as the sanjak governor, his mother Hafsa Sultan was with him. You can see the traces of Suleiman the Magnificent and his mother Hafsa Sultan in many historical structures in Manisa. It is also known as Mesir Mosque among the public because it is the mosque where the famous Mesir Paste is distributed to the public. The mosque and social complex located in the center of Manisa offer wonderful beauties on a journey into history..
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