I for years only showed some pictures of this mosque, built in 1854 on the site of an earlier mosque, for Sultan Abdül Mecit by architect Nikogos (Turkish Nigoğos) Balyan, who also built the Dolmabahce palace. In 2019 I corrected this, taking many fresh pictures.
The Balyan family (Armenian: Պալեաններ) was a Armenian dynasty of famous Ottoman Imperial architects. For five generations in the 18th and 19th centuries, they designed and constructed numerous major buildings, including palaces, kiosks, mosques, churches, and various public buildings, mostly in Constantinople, present-day Istanbul. The nine well-known members of the family served six sultans in the course of almost a century and were responsible for the westernization of the architecture of the then-capital.
The mosque is in the neoclassical style, like the Dolmabahçe one, in the same style. Also known as the Great Mecidiye Mosque. It was significantly damaged in an 1894 earthquake, comb and cone sections of the minaret were reconstructed. A notice describes the underground is also instable, so major repair in 1960’s was executed. And in 1984 a fire made a new restoration necessary. As was the habit in that period, for Sultan’s mosques, there is an ample royal pavilion in front of the entrance (on either side of the entrance stairs). The prayer section is covered with a dome. The notice – which is in rather good English overall - also states “The masses in royal pavilion corresponding to dekorativism in worship sections were very simple in their geometry.” As I could not enter that pavilion this left me clueless.
The spot is extremely popular with tourists, its setting is close to one of the now three bridges across the Bosporus, with fine views. As a result there is a flourishing mass of terraces and shops, the area is definitely crowded, yet I managed to be alone for a while in the mosque. I show pictures of the interior, the exterior, and some of the views of Bosporus and shops.