Mihrimah Sultan Mosque – Edirnekapi – Istanbul

In order to have two monumental mosques built in her name, Mihrimah Sultan must have been both powerful and wealthy. Indeed, her husband, Rüstem Pasha, was the richest Grand Vizier in the history of the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, she was the only beloved daughter of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Her mother, Hürrem Sultan, was the sole legal wife of Suleiman and the woman who initiated the Sultanate of Women era. Supported by such influential figures, it is no surprise that Mihrimah Sultan had the means and backing to commission the Iskele Mosque in Üsküdar, as well as the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Istanbul’s Edirnekapi district.

 

 

OTTOMAN IMPERIAL MOSQUES

 

Ottoman sultans or members of the imperial dynasty commissioned these monumental complexes. They were usually constructed as külliye, multi-functional complexes centred on a mosque, surrounded by madrasas, kitchens, baths and other charitable institutions serving the community.

The great imperial architect Mimar Sinan, master architect of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 50 years, designed many of the still-standing külliye in Istanbul. He set the standard for mosque and complex architecture.

Imperial mosques were also built in other Ottoman cities, including Bursa, Edirne, Konya, Amasya, Manisa and even Damascus.

 

 

 

MIHRIMAH SULTAN MOSQUE

 

Certainly, the chief imperial architect Mimar Sinan was deeply engaged in designing monumental mosques for the Ottoman dynasty. His career began with the Haseki Sultan Mosque. However, it was the Şehzade Mosque that impressed Suleiman the Magnificent so greatly that he later entrusted Sinan with building one of Istanbul’s largest and most iconic landmarks – the Süleymaniye Mosque.

Before that, however, Sinan constructed the Iskele Mosque in Üsküdar in 1548 for Mihrimah Sultan.

 

 

He completed her second mosque in Edirnekapi around 1570. Like other imperial mosques, it was originally part of a larger complex that included a madrasa, a hammam, a mausoleum and a row of shops beneath the mosque designed to fund its upkeep. Today, those shops no longer exist.

 

 

Yet, the Edirnekapi mosque possesses several distinctive features. A vast dome spans the entire structure. Additionally, hundreds of windows illuminate the interior, making it one of the brightest mosques of the Ottoman era.

 

 

Sinan was renowned for embedding symbolism into his works. The name Mihrimah in Persian means “sun and moon”. For this mosque, he selected a location where, on certain days in March, the sun sets over Edirnekapi as the moon simultaneously rises above Mihrimah Sultan’s other mosque in Üsküdar.

Another remarkable feature is that the Edirnekapi mosque has only one minaret, while imperial mosques typically boast two or more.

 

 

Behind the mosque stands the Islamic school dedicated to teaching the Quran.

 

 

 

HAMMAM

 

The hammam, part of the original Mihrimah Sultan Complex, remains in use even after 450 years.

 

 

The Mihrimah Sultan Mosque lies outside Istanbul’s main tourist area. However, you can easily combine it with visits to other nearby landmarks such as the Chora Church, Tekfur Palace and the Theodosian Walls.

A monumental landmark, the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque graces the Edirnekapi neighbourhood. It endures as a proud testament to one of the most prominent women of the Ottoman dynasty.

 

 

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