Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

elaborate kursi (chair) from which the imam gives the sermon on Fridays. The beautifully carved white marble mimber (pulpit), with its curtained doorway at floor level, features a flight of steps and a small kiosk topped by a spire.

SULTAN AHMET I

Designed by Sedefkâr Mehmet Ağa and built in 1616–19, Ahmet I’s türbe (tomb) is on the north side of the mosque facing Sultanahmet Park. Ahmet, who had ascended the imperial throne aged 13, died at just 27, one year after construction of the mosque was completed. Buried with him are his wife, Kösem (strangled to death in the Topkapı Harem), and his sons, Sultan Osman II (r 1618–22), Sultan Murat IV (r 1623–40) and Prince Beyazıt (murdered by order of Murat). Like the mosque, the türbe features fine İznik tiles.

Mosques built by the great and powerful usually included numerous public-service institutions, including hospitals, soup kitchens and schools. Here, a large medrese (Islamic school of higher studies) on the northwestern side of the complex (closed to the public) and arasta (row of shops by a mosque; now the Arasta Bazaar) remain.