Today we will visit the historical and cultural monument in the Laleli district, the last of the great imperial mosques of Istanbul - the Laleli Mosque.
The mosque was built by order of Sultan Mustafa III from 1760 to 1763. The building is designed in the Ottoman Baroque style.
According to one version, Mustafa III named this mosque in honor of Laleli Baba, whom he considered his benefactor. Laleli Baba's tomb was located near this mosque complex and was destroyed in the 1950s.
The complex consists of a mosque, imaret, madrasah, fountain and mausoleum. Some of the buildings were destroyed and others were reconstructed during the city's urban development in the 1950s. The mosque's outer courtyard gate was moved back in 1957-1958 due to traffic needs. The bathhouse was completely demolished.
The mosque itself consists of a square prayer hall and a rectangular courtyard surrounded by a gallery with a ritual ablution fountain in the center. The mosque has a special place called "mahfil-i hümayun" where the sultan worshiped.
The main dome stands on 8 columns. Its surroundings consist of 6 semi-domes. The outer diameter of the dome is 12.5 meters, the outer height of the dome is 24.5 meters. The number of windows around the main dome is 24, and the number of windows in the entire mosque is 105.
The mosque has two minarets with single balconies. There is a version that the minaret on the left side was built 6 years after the construction of the mosque.
Above the door of the mosque there is an inscription dated 1826-1827. In addition to the mosque building, a gallery with nine arches was built on the eastern and western facades, and faucets for ablution were installed at the bottom.
The complex was destroyed several times by earthquakes and fires. Sources give different dates in this regard.
In particular, it is said that the temple was destroyed during the earthquake in 1765 or 66, was subjected to fires in 1782, or 83, and also in 1911 when the madrasah was destroyed, after which it was overhauled in different years. Subsequent road works destroyed many other additional buildings of the mosque. In particular, the mosque's bathhouse was destroyed.
Sultan Mustafa III and his son Sultan Selim III, as well as Sultans Heybetullah, Mihrimah, Mihrishah and Fatma, are buried in the turba.
Despite the fact that Sultan Mustafa III built the most mosques in Istanbul, he did not name any of them after himself. Four mosques, which he named after his elder brother Prince Mehmet, after his mother Mihrişah Valide Sultan, after his great-grandfather Fatih, and this mosque after Laleli Baba.
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