Mosque of Ahmed I
The external appearance of the mosque is very pleasing; the mode in which the smaller domes and semi-domes lead up to the centre produces a pyramidal effect that gives an…
“Ahmediyeh, Mosque of Ahmed I.” from Handbook for Travellers in Constantinople, Brûsa, and the Troad: with index and directory for 1907 by John Murray, Publisher, 1907
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This mosque, situated on the S.E. side of the At Meidan, Hippodrome, was built, in 1608-14, by Sultan Ahmed I., who is said to have shown his zeal by working upon it, once a week, with his own hands. It is surrounded by a great court planted with trees, and with its six minarets and dependent colleges, soup-kitchens, and tombs forms an imposing pile. When it was built, the mosque at Mecca was the only one in the Moslem world that had six minarets, and, to appease the outcry raised by the Imam of that place, Sultan Ahmed built a seventh minaret at the Kaaba.
The external appearance of the mosque is very pleasing; the mode in which the smaller domes and semi-domes lead up to the centre produces a pyramidal effect that gives an air of stability to the outline, and the six minarets go far to relieve what otherwise might be monotonous.
The fore-court, harâm, is surrounded on all sides by cloisters covered with small domes, and in its centre is the fountain for ablutions. It is entered by a fine portal, which has exactly opposite to it the principal entrance to the Mosque, Jami’.
This is rather larger than the Suleimaniyeh, measuring 235 ft. by 210 ft., but it is inferior both in design and in the richness or taste of its decorations. Its great defect is that it is too mechanically regular.
“In this mosque, as in the Pantheon at Rome, if the plan were divided into quarters, each of the four quarters would be found to be identical, and the effect is consequently painfully mechanical and prosaic. The design of each wall is also nearly the same; they have the same number of windows spaced in the same manner, and the side of the Kibleh is scarcely more richly decorated than the others. Still, a hall nearly 200 ft. square, with a stone roof supported by only four great fluted piers, is a grand and imposing object.” — Fergusson.
The mihrab, flanked by its great candelabra, is ornamented with marble slabs which conceal, so it is said, a portion of the black stone of the Kaaba. The minber, a masterpiece in marble, is a copy of that at Mecca; it is surmounted by a gilt crown and crescent, and is the pulpit from which the decree that put an end to the tyranny of the Janissaries was read. The box or pew of the Sultan, mahfil-i-humayûn, to which a passage leads directly from the fore-court, is in the S.E. corner of the mosque.
Kurâns of every form lie on gilded stands, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and on the wall hangs the last covering of the Kaaba, brought back by the pilgrims from Mecca. The walls beneath the windows are covered with tiles which belong to the best period of Turkish art; but, in striking contrast to this beautiful work, whitewash has been unsparingly employed on the walls above. From the roof hang lamps, some of much value, and ostrich eggs.
The Ahmediyeh has a revenue of P. 200,000, and it is used, like the Suleimaniyeh, as a place of deposit for treasure. It is, in some measure, the state mosque of Constantinople, for here the Sultan and the chief officers of the Court and State were wont to repair to celebrate the chief Moslem festivals of the Mevlûd, or birthday of the Prophet, the departure of the annual caravan for Mecca, and the two Bairâms.
In the garden is the Türbeh of Saltan Ahmed I., a rectangular building with an anteroom, and a tomb-chamber covered by a dome, which is decorated with tiles of a good period of art. Within the türbeh are the tombs of Ahmed I. (d. 1617), Osman II. (d. 1622), Murad IV. (d. 1640), and of several princes and princesses. All are covered with costly shawls and embroideries.
Handbook for travellers in Constantinople, Brûsa, and the Troad: with index and directory for 1907. John Murray, 1907.
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