When the daughter of the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent turned 17, two powerful men wanted to marry her. The name of Süleyman’s daughter was Mihrimah which meant in Persian “the sun and the moon.” One of the two men was a provincial governor while the other was the famous Architect Sinan, whose greatest works include the Blue Mosque and Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. At the time, despite being madly in love with her, Sinan was 50 and already married. So Mihrimah married the governor. Soon thereafter, Sinan was commissioned by the palace to build a Mihrimah mosque in Üsküdar (on the Asian side of Istanbul). When finished, the mosque looked like a woman with her hair reaching down below. After a while, while still in love, Sinan started building a second Mihrimah mosque on a high hill on the European side without being commissioned to do so.
When finished, this mosque equally looked like a woman whose hair reached her ankles. There was another particularity: on March 21, the birthday of Mihrimah, one can see that when the sun is setting behind the minaret of the Mihrimah mosque on the European side, the moon is coming out behind the Mihrimah mosque on the Asian side.
The European-side Mihrimah mosque is located in Edirnekapı, very close to the Chora Church.
Visitors can first be impressed by the exceptional Byzantine mosaics and frescoes of the 14th century at the Chora Church before going to the Mihrimah mosque, which has been newly reopened even though reconstruction work is still continuing in the mosque’s garden and courtyard.
Inside, the mosque has been gracefully renovated. One must commend the current government for taking care of the Ottoman architecture in the city by renovating all these heretofore decrepit walls and mosques.
A last treat is a meal at Asitane, next to the Chora. The restaurant is famous for its Ottoman Palace cuisine and the management worked hard to revive forgotten cuisine whose recipes were kept secret due to guild tradition. Asitane’s “stuffed quince,” for instance, is cooked with a recipe from 1539.
See http://www.asitanerestaurant.com/English/imperial_ottoman_cuisine.php for more information.
After the trip to the historical peninsula, head to Istanbul Modern for more art – but this time for modern Turkish painting. The location of the museum is close to the confluence of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus and makes a great place to have a sunset drink. The terrace, for instance, provides views all the way from the Bosphorus Bridge to the Blue Mosque and beyond. The busy ferries, the sea and seagulls make a typical Istanbul picture that certainly creates a memorable experience of the city. Also note that the museum store has wonderful gifts.
Istanbul Modern is also hosting the Armenian Architects of Istanbul until mid January. As Turkey tries to come to grips with its past, it is interesting to note that much of the city’s landscape and many landmark buildings are actually the work of Armenian architects.
One family, the Balyans, seem to have especially contributed the most by building Dolmabahçe Palace; Kuleli Military School (where Moammar Gadhafi was a student); Selimiye military barracks (some of the world’s largest historical military barracks); Çırağan Palace, Ortaköy Mosque; Beylerbeyi Palace; Akaretler and today’s Istanbul University’s Presidency buildings.
The latter used to be the War Ministry in the last years of the Ottoman Empire when the government was basically ruled by three Pashas of the Ottoman Army. Famously, the three pashas reportedly decided in this building to order the deportations of the empire’s Armenian population in 1915, leading to the later tragedy and deaths.
When finished, this mosque equally looked like a woman whose hair reached her ankles. There was another particularity: on March 21, the birthday of Mihrimah, one can see that when the sun is setting behind the minaret of the Mihrimah mosque on the European side, the moon is coming out behind the Mihrimah mosque on the Asian side.
The European-side Mihrimah mosque is located in Edirnekapı, very close to the Chora Church.
Visitors can first be impressed by the exceptional Byzantine mosaics and frescoes of the 14th century at the Chora Church before going to the Mihrimah mosque, which has been newly reopened even though reconstruction work is still continuing in the mosque’s garden and courtyard.
Inside, the mosque has been gracefully renovated. One must commend the current government for taking care of the Ottoman architecture in the city by renovating all these heretofore decrepit walls and mosques.
A last treat is a meal at Asitane, next to the Chora. The restaurant is famous for its Ottoman Palace cuisine and the management worked hard to revive forgotten cuisine whose recipes were kept secret due to guild tradition. Asitane’s “stuffed quince,” for instance, is cooked with a recipe from 1539.
See http://www.asitanerestaurant.com/English/imperial_ottoman_cuisine.php for more information.
After the trip to the historical peninsula, head to Istanbul Modern for more art – but this time for modern Turkish painting. The location of the museum is close to the confluence of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus and makes a great place to have a sunset drink. The terrace, for instance, provides views all the way from the Bosphorus Bridge to the Blue Mosque and beyond. The busy ferries, the sea and seagulls make a typical Istanbul picture that certainly creates a memorable experience of the city. Also note that the museum store has wonderful gifts.
Istanbul Modern is also hosting the Armenian Architects of Istanbul until mid January. As Turkey tries to come to grips with its past, it is interesting to note that much of the city’s landscape and many landmark buildings are actually the work of Armenian architects.
One family, the Balyans, seem to have especially contributed the most by building Dolmabahçe Palace; Kuleli Military School (where Moammar Gadhafi was a student); Selimiye military barracks (some of the world’s largest historical military barracks); Çırağan Palace, Ortaköy Mosque; Beylerbeyi Palace; Akaretler and today’s Istanbul University’s Presidency buildings.
The latter used to be the War Ministry in the last years of the Ottoman Empire when the government was basically ruled by three Pashas of the Ottoman Army. Famously, the three pashas reportedly decided in this building to order the deportations of the empire’s Armenian population in 1915, leading to the later tragedy and deaths.
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