ottoman period Archives » Hagia Sophia

Muezzin’s Loge

hagiasophiatr — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 20:04:39 +0000

There are five muezzin’s loges in Hagia Sophia. The first one, located on the east of the main place was built by Sultan Murad III in the 16th century. The loge was used by the muezzins who call to prayers.

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Mosaic Tughra

hagiasophiatr — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 02:58:45 +0000

During the Fossati restoration, a mosaic tughra (Sultan’s Signature) plate made by Lanzoni was given as a gift to Abdulmejid. The name-plate was made by tesserae which fell down and were collected during restoration.

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Muvakkithane

hagiasophiatr — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 20:51:24 +0000

Built by Fossati Brothers on the order of Sultan Abdulmecid in the 19th century, Muvakkithane (the clock room) was designed for people to learn the correct time of the prayers. It had a table with a clock on it and windows to be observed easily by people. Today, the building is used as an office of the administration of the Hagia Sophia Museum.

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Tombs

hagiasophiatr — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 02:06:35 +0000

Tomb of Sultan Selim II

Despite his will to be buried in Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Sultan Selim the second was buried in Hagia Sophia because it was respected as a royal tomb. His tomb was designed by Mimar Sinan. With his wifes’ and sons’, there are forty two sarcophagi in the mausoleum.

Decorated with tiles on its walls, the marble mausoleum of Selim II an octagonal layout.

Tomb of Sultan Mehmed III

Built by the architect Dalgic Ahmed Aga on the order of Sultan Ahmed I, the mausoleum of Mehmed III who killed his nineteen brother when he came to the throne, has two domes and an octagonal plan. Inside the tomb, there are twenty six sarcophagi including the tomb of Sultan Ahmed and his family.

Tomb of Sultan Murad III

Built by Davud Aga in 1599, the mausoleum of Sultan Murad III, houses 54 sarcophagi. The hexagonal mausoleum with two domes was completed four years after the death of Sultan Murad III.

The tomb has three rows of windows and ornamented interior walls. The dome is supported by six-free standing columns.

The Tomb of Princes

There are the sarcophagi of four princes of Sultan Murad III and the daughter of Sultan Murad III in the mausoleum. The walls of it is ornamented with plant motifs.

The Tomb of Sultan Mustafa I and Sultan Ibrahim

Baptistery of the Hagia Sophia, was used as a mausoleum of Sultan Mustafa I and Sultan Ibrahim along with 17 other sarcophagi of the members in the dynasty. It has an octagonal internal layout.

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Sultan’s Imperial Loge

hagiasophiatr — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 23:25:38 +0000

Used by the Sultans during religious days and ceremonies, the Imperial Loge was made by Fossati Brothers in the 19^th century. The loge is located on the left of the altar. The columns supporting the octagonal shaped terrace belong to Byzantine era.

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Public Fountain

hagiasophiatr — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 02:30:35 +0000

There were two public fountains to distribute free water to people in Hagia Sophia. One of them is located at the right of the Vestibule Door exit to the courtyard. The other one, built by Sultan Ibrahim, is on the southeast corner of the courtyard. It dates back to the 17^th century.

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Elementary School

hagiasophiatr — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 20:22:16 +0000

The Elementary School of Hagia Sophia was built by Mahmud I in the 18^th century. It is located in the southeast yard of Hagia Sophia. After the mosque was converted to the museum, the building was used as a public housing. It has been the exhibition hall for a while. Conferences and meetings are held occasionally in the building.

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Almshouse

hagiasophiatr — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 20:08:48 +0000

Built by Sultan Mahmut I, the almshouse was the public soup-kitchen that would distribute food for the helpless. With its baroque style door which has an epigraph of Calligrapher ‘’Beshir Agha’’, the entrance was used by the Sultans when they came from Topkapi Palace to Hagia Sophia.

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Alabaster Urns

hagiasophiatr — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 02:05:16 +0000

Each of them carved from single blocks of marble, alabaster urns date from Hellenistic times. Found by a peasant as he was ploughing his field in Pergamon, the marble jars were full of gold. The peasant came to Sultan Murat III to tell him he found three marble jars in his field. Sultan brought two of them to Hagia Sophia and granted him the third jar and the field in which he found them. He is also said to have required the soldiers to empty the jars because Sultan wanted only the jars not the golds. After adding a tap and a lid on them, the urns were used to take ritual ablutions in the Hagia Sophia.

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Calligraphic Roundels

hagiasophiatr — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 21:51:25 +0000

Inscripted by M. ‘’Izzet Efendi’’, the eight calligraphic roundels of Hagia Sophia were placed by Fossatis during the Sultan Abdulmejid reign. The huge wooden panels bear the names of Allah, Mohammed and his grandsons; Hasan & Hussein and four caliphates. They intended to remove them when the mosque was converted into a museum. However, they couldn’t go through the doors.

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