Hadım İbrahim Pasha Mosque

History

Hadım İbrahim Pasha Mosque stands by the Silivrikapı gate, inside the city walls, in the Fatih district. It was designed by Mimar Sinan for Hadım İbrahim Pasha — a eunuch of Bosniak origin who served as Chief White Eunuch of the Topkapı Palace Harem under Suleiman the Magnificent, was Governor of Anatolia, and in 1544 became fourth Vizier. Construction was completed in 1551. İbrahim Pasha led a modest life and enjoyed a rare, unanimously high reputation for a courtier; he is buried in an open sarcophagus in the courtyard of his mosque.

Architecture

The mosque is a compact work of the classical Sinan: a 'domed cube' with an attached portico. The main dome, 12 metres in diameter, rests on eight internal buttresses and is lit by three tiers of windows that flood the small hall with light. The portico is covered by five small domes on arches with marble columns. The interior is decorated with panels of coloured Iznik tiles. The stone minaret, at the southwest end of the portico, was rebuilt in 1763–1764. For all its modest size, the mosque shows the clarity of plan and measured proportion characteristic of Sinan.

Facts

• Designed by Mimar Sinan for the eunuch vizier Hadım İbrahim Pasha; construction completed in 1551. en.wikipedia.org
• A 'domed cube' with a portico: the main dome, 12 m in diameter, rests on eight internal buttresses and is lit by three tiers of windows. en.wikipedia.org
• The portico is covered by five small domes on arches with marble columns. en.wikipedia.org
• The interior is decorated with panels of coloured Iznik tiles; the stone minaret was rebuilt in 1763–1764. en.wikipedia.org
• The patron was Chief White Eunuch of the Topkapı Harem under Suleiman and fourth Vizier (1544); he is buried in an open sarcophagus in the courtyard. en.wikipedia.org

Photographs

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org
• commons.wikimedia.org
• Google Maps