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Dick Osseman | all galleries >> Bursa >> Bursa small mosques > Bursa Sitti Hatun Mosque May 2014 6871.jpg
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17-May-2014 Dick Osseman

Bursa Sitti Hatun Mosque May 2014 6871.jpg

I could not find more than a notice on this (heavily restored) mosque, which has a medrese nearby:

Orucbey Kızı Sittihatun Camii 1459-1460.

The mosque is part of a small complex that was built in 1460, commissioned by Sitti Hatun, a daughter of Oruç Bey, the second son of Kara Timurtaş Paşa. The latter was grandson of Aygut Alp (a famous comrade of Osman Gazi, the namesake of the Ottoman dynasty) and was appointed ‘beylerbeyi’ (governor) by Murat I. His son Oruç Bey was the first known court historian of the Ottomans; his daughter Sitti Hatun became the first wife of Zağanos Mehmed Paşa, a life-long companion of Fatih Sultan Mehmet II, with an impressive career as tutor, army commander, Grand Vizier and Governor. No wonder his wife had some money to spend on community service.

On the picture: The ‘mihrab’ (prayer niche) with its muqarnas decoration.

Muqarnas is a stalactite-like decoration initiated in Anatolia by the Seljuk (in the 11th – 12th century). They imported it from Iran. Later on it continued to be used in the late-Seljuk architecture of the Beyliks (14th century) and by the Ottomans up to the 19th century.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Vakıf Abideler ve eski Eserler (volume III)’ - Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü, Ankara 1983 & Wikipedia.

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