All these pictures are from the monumental grave chamber of Eyüp, which is covered with Iznik tiles of the best quality. The grave proper is in a room that one can look into through elaborate grating. In the room where the believers gather there is a showcase with what must be a footprint of the prophet, I distinctly think it used to be in the Topkapı museum. Here it is much more in its proper place.

On the picture: A fragment of a tiled wall, showing lots of flowers. The central panel is an example of the pure white ground on which the design (stylised leaves, flowers and blossoms) is depicted. Often used motifs are tulips, carnations, arched flower branches, hyacinths, violets, pomegranates, grapes, feather-shaped reed grass and leaves. In Ottoman culture (and more generally in Islamic art) flowers symbolize the Garden of Eden and Paradise.

These designs were drawn by the artists of the Topkapı Sarayı workshop and sent to the potters at Iznik for transfer to the tile panels and plates, which were not only used in the mosques and palaces of the Ottoman Empire, but were exported all over Europe.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: ‘Islamic Architecture: Ottoman Turkey’ (Godfrey Goodwin) – London 1977
& Website of ‘turkishculture.org’ .