Great Mosque of Bursa

"The Ulu Cami was built by Bayezid I after the Nicopolis (Nigbolu) victory. After being burnt down by Timur in 1402, the building was damaged by fires in 1493 and 1889 and by earthquake in 1855 and restored extensively after the earthquake (architect, Parvillée) and in 1959.

The mosque is composed of a large central hall measuring sixty-three meters by fifty meters, covered with twenty domes supported on round arches that fall on thirty piers arranged in a regular grid. The structure is clearly expressed on the exterior where the eighteen piers that make up the wall and their connecting arches are left in relief, with large windows between. The building is entered through portals on the north, east and west. Inside, at the intersection of axes from all entrances, a 19th century marble ablution fountain is illuminated from oculus of dome above, the highest dome in the mosque. Eighteen of the domes were rebuilt in 1855 after collapsing in the earthquake. The interior is adorned with colossal inscriptions on piers presenting the ninety-names of Allah in diwani and küfi script with accompanying baroque decoration from the 19th century. The minber, composed of interlocking wooden pieces fitted together without glue or nails, is decorated on both sides with carved geometric designs creating an impression of the skies. The honey-colored limestone of the exterior, plastered white until recently was uncovered in the restoration of 1959. The two minarets, on the northeast and northwest corner of mosque, are made of brick bases faced with marble; their wooden and lead caps were replaced with baroque stone alternatives by Parvillée. " http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=2881

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Travel & Events

Tags:

• Ulucami
• Beyezid
• Bursa
• Mosque
• ottoman
• twenty
• domes