The Great Mosque

The Great Mosque is rectangular in plan with a north-south orientation and is built entirely of stone blocks. There are three separate monumental portals, one to the north, one to the east and one to the west. The interior consists of twenty-five octagonal sections formed by double vaults of varying widths. The large mihrab is surmounted by a twelve-foil cupola and the central bay is surmounted by an oval cupola. The cupola above the octagonal chandelier is surmounted an octagonal spire. The remaining bays are star-vaults. The complex vaulting of the Southeast cupola is noteworthy.

The unadorned walls of the mosque interior provide a contrast to the portals. This austerity may have been intended to avoid distracting the worshippers and interfering with their peace of mind and reverence. The columns of the Textile Portal were reinforced by Mimar Sinan during the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent. The columns of the Shah Portal are the original columns. On the interior face of the Paradise Portal there are two coffers, each carved from a single block of stone. When left the district, they would leave their valuables and jewelry in these coffers, knowing that they would find them untouched when they returned. Right next to these is an alms coffer. The charitable would leave alms in this coffer, and those is need would take as much as they required. This practice, described as “one hand unaware of what the other is giving” reflects a desire to avoid injuring the pride of the poor.

On the left side of the interior of the Paradise Portal there are designs of a lance and a torch painted with pigment made from iron oxide. The lance represents strength and the torch represents knowledge. One can see tear-drops in the pendants of the vault above the Paradise Portal. Two doors to the left of the mihrab lead to the tombs in the hospital.

The cylindrical, single-balcony minaret at the north-west corner of the mosque is not original. An inscription states that the minaret was built by the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent in 1565. The interior of the mosque was restored in the same year.