Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

MOSQUE LIBRARY AHMET HAMDI TANPINAR LITERATURE MUSEUM LIBRARY ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Edebiyat Müze Kütüphanesi; % 0212-520 2081; Gülhane Park; h 10am-7pm Mon-Sat; j Gülhane) F Built into the wall of Gülhane Park, the Alay Köşkü (Parade Kiosk) is where the sultan would sit and watch the periodic parades of troops and trade guilds that commemorated great holidays and military victories. It is now open to the public as a literature museum and library named in honour of novelist and essayist Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar (1901–62). Dating from the early 19th century, the kiosk is polygonal in shape and beautifully decorated inside, with painted walls, stained-glass windows, plan – an irregular octagon – is quite unusual. Its interior was originally decorated with gold mosaics and featured columns made from fine green and red marble. The mosaics are long gone, but the impressive columns remain. The church was converted into a mosque by the chief white eunuch Hüseyin Ağa around 1500; his tomb is to the north of the building. The minaret and medrese (seminary) date from this time. The medrese cells, arranged around the mosque’s forecourt, are now used by secondhand booksellers and bookbinders. In the leafy forecourt is a tranquil çay bahçesi (tea garden) where you can relax over a glass of çay. SOKULLU ŞEHIT MEHMET PAŞA MOSQUE ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Camii; cnr Şehit Mehmet Paşa & Özbekler Sokaks, Kadırga; h sunrise-sunset; j Sultanahmet or Çemberlitaş) Mimar Sinan designed this mosque in 1571 at the height of his architectural career. Besides its architectural harmony, the mosque is unusual because the medrese is not a separate building but part of the mosque structure, built around the forecourt. The interior walls and mimber are decorated with spectacular red-and-blue İznik tiles – some of the best ever made. Though named after the grand vizier of the time, the mosque was actually sponsored by his wife Esmahan, daughter of Sultan Selim II. Inside are four fragments from the sacred Black Stone in the Kaaba at Mecca: one above the entrance framed in gold, two in the mimber and one in the mihrab .