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The Bayezid II Mosque (Bayezid Camii) is a large imperial mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It’s located on Beyazıt Square near the Grand Bazaar.
History of the Bayezid II Mosque
The Bayezid II Mosque was built between 1501 and 1506 and was commissioned by Sultan Bayezid II. The architect was most likely Yakubşah ibn Islamşah. He was a nephew of Atik Sinan, a member of Constantinople’s Greek community who designed the Fatih Mosque. The mosque is made of stone and marble salvaged from Byzantine ruins.
The dome was partially rebuilt after an earthquake in 1509. Mimar Sinan (1490-1588) made repairs from 1573 to 1574. Each minaret burned down separately in 1683 and 1764, and more repairs were carried out in 1767 after an earthquake a year earlier. An extensive restoration took place starting in August 2012, taking eight years to complete. The mosque reopened for worship in 2020.
Features of the Bayezid II Mosque
The Bayezid II Mosque has several interesting features, both architectural and aesthetic.
Courtyard
The courtyard is surrounded by a monumental entrance with portals on three sides. It measures roughly 40 square meters (130 feet), which is an area almost equal to the mosque itself. In the center is a beautiful ablutions fountain (şadırvan). The roof of the fountain was added in the second quarter of the 17th century during the reign of Murad IV.
The courtyard contains a colonnaded peristyle on three sides. It’s made up of 20 columns taken from churches and ancient ruins in the city. 2 of the columns are porphyry, 10 are verd antique, and 6 are pink granite. The peristyle is covered by 24 small domes.
Prayer Hall
The interior is similar to Hagia Sophia and, as previously mentioned, is almost equal to the size of the courtyard. It’s beautifully decorated with calligraphy and floral patterns.
The aisles on both sides of the prayer hall are covered with four small domes. An ornate muezzin’s loge is in the center of the prayer hall attached to a pillar on the right aisle.
Sultan’s Loge
The sultan’s loge, which sits in the right aisle, is supported by 10 marble columns recycled from earlier Byzantine churches. The exterior of the loge is on the west side of the building.
Guesthouse Wings
Wings on both sides of the prayer hall were originally designed as guesthouses for traveling dervishes, but they were integrated into the prayer hall sometime during the 16th century. The minarets sit next to these wings. Furthermore, in 1767, a small domed structure was added to the west wing. It housed the library of Shayk al-Islam (Seyhülislam) Hacı Veliyyüddin Efendi (c. 1684-1768).
Dome
The dome has a diameter of 16.78 meters (56 feet). It’s supported by four columns, two semi-domes to the east and west, and two arches to the north and south. There are 20 windows at the base of the dome and 7 windows on each semi-dome. The walls above the arches contain two tiers of windows.
Cemetery at the Bayezid II Mosque
Behind the mosque is a small cemetery and three tombs. Government officials and their families were buried there starting in the late 17th century.
Tomb of Bayezid II
The most important tomb in the cemetery belongs to Sultan Bayezid II. It was built in 1514 by his son and successor, Selim I. The entrance is on the northwest side via a portico added in the 18th century.
The domed tomb is on an octagonal plan and made of cut limestone. There are a total of 15 windows on two tiers. The exterior of the bottom windows have round arches while the top windows are grilled and have pointed arches. The hand-drawn Neo-Baroque decorations were completed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Biography of Bayezid II
Bayezid II (b. 1447, Didymoteicho – d. 1512, Abalar, Havsa) was the 8th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (r. 1481-1512). There’s substantial circumstantial evidence he took the throne by poisoning his father, Mehmed the Conqueror. He led several campaigns to seize Venetian possessions in the Peloponnese but his reign was plagued by rebellions in the east.
Bayezid II is best known for evacuating Jews and Muslims expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 and inviting them to live in the Ottoman Empire. Apparently, he also rejected a plea by Christopher Columbus for financial support to discover new trade routes.
In addition to being a skilled statesman, Bayezid II was an accomplished poet and also studied calligraphy. His son, Selim I, forced him to abdicate on April 25, 1512. Bayezid II and died one month later on his way to retirement in Demotika (now Didymoteicho, Greece).
Tomb of Selçuk Sultan
A few steps away you’ll find the tomb of Selçuk Sultan (c. 1469-1508), who was a daughter of Bayezid II. Her tomb was built by her brother, Selim I, at the same time as the mosque. It’s an identical yet smaller version of her father’s tomb.
Tomb of Mustafa Reşid Pasha
The third tomb belongs to Mustafa Reşid Pasha (1800-1858), a Grand Vizier six times under Abdülmecid I and the chief architect behind the Tanzimat reforms. His tomb was built in 1858 by Gaspare Fossati.
Mustafa Reşid Pasha is buried alongside his sons Mehmed Cemil Pasha (1828-1872), Ali Galip Pasha (1829-1858), and Salih Bey. His daughter Adile Sultan is buried in the open grave next to the tomb.
Grave of Mimar Kemaleddin
Another important burial is that of Mimar Kemaleddin (1870-1927). He was one of the most important leaders of the First National architectural movement and designed several buildings in Turkey. Among them are the Tayyare Apartments and Fourth Vakıf Han in Istanbul, the train station in Karaağaç, and Ankara Palace.
Bayezid II Mosque Complex
The Bayezid II Mosque was part of a large complex at including a madrasa, hamam, soup kitchen, caravanserai, primary school, and a row of shops to raise revenue for maintenance. Those buildings are scattered throughout Beyazıt Square. The soup kitchen and caravanserai are now the Beyazıt State Library. A couple other structures are covered below.
Bayezid II Madrasa
On the west side of Beyazıt Square is the Bayezid II Madrasa (II. Bayezid Medresesi), which was completed in 1507. The architect is thought to have been Yusuf ibn Papas, a Greek brought up in the devşirme system. It’s on a rectangular plan surrounded by students cells on three sides and a domed classroom on the fourth side. Each cell had a fireplace and niche, with two lower windows and one upper window. An octagonal fountain is in the center of the courtyard.
The madrasa was damaged in an earthquake in 1509 and much of it had to be rebuilt. It was in a dilapidated state by the early 20th century and it was restored between 1940 and 1943. The entrance gate was demolished in 1940, while the walls enclosing the courtyard were demolished in 1956. From 1943 to 1983, it served as the Istanbul Municipal Museum followed by the Istanbul Municipal Library. In 1984, the madrasa became the Turkish Foundation Museum of Calligraphy (Türk Vakıf Hat Sanatları Müzesi). It has been under restoration for several years (as of July 2024).
Bayezid II Hamam
Further west towards Laleli is the Bayezid II Hamam (II. Bayezid Hamamı). It was built by Gülbahar Hatun (1453-1505), the wife of Sultan Bayezid II and mother of Sultan Selim I, and was the largest bath in Istanbul. The bath was probably completed in 1507. Fragments from the triumphal arch of the Forum of Theodosius were used in its construction.
The Bayezid II Hamam was damaged by fire in 1714 and renovated. Patrona Halil (1690-1730), the leader of an uprising that deposed Sultan Ahmed III in 1730, once worked there as an attendant. In fact, the bath is known by many people as the Patrona Halil Hamam (Patrona Halil Hamamı).
The hamam ceased to function in the 1930s. The building was then used as a warehouse for many years and fell into disrepair by the end of the 20th century. In 2000, it was given to Istanbul University, which restored it from 2003 to 2010.
The university began the process of converting the hamam into a museum in May 2013, and the Bayezid II Turkish Bath Cultural Museum (II. Bayezid Türk Hamam Kültürü Müzesi) finally opened on May 27, 2015. It highlights the importance of Turkish baths in Ottoman life. It’s open weekdays from 9am to 4pm and admission is free (as of July 2024). Overall, it’s very nicely presented and worth a visit. I spent about 30 minutes inside.
Architecture of the Bayezid II Hamam
The Bayezid II Hamam is a double bath with a men’s and women’s section. The men’s section features a large entrance portal that earned the bath the nickname Great Bathhouse (Hamam-ı Kebir). Each section had a large domed chamber, the undressing room (camekân); a warm room (ılıklık); and a hot room (hararet). The women’s undressing room is slightly smaller than the men’s side and functions as the entrance to the museum.
The warm rooms have a central dome with three domed wings and two domed rooms in each corner between them.
The hot rooms are arranged in a cross shape. They have a central dome with four wings, each with their own dome, and another domed room in each corner.
Two of the small corner rooms in the hot rooms between the women’s and men’s sections show how the baths looked before and after restoration. The room in the women’s section is fully restored while the room in the men’s section is partially restored, with cracks showing in the floor and broken wash basins. There are also some unrestored sections of stucco decorations along the walls.
Museum Collection
The collection of the Bayezid II Turkish Bath Cultural Museum contains both archaeological and ethnographic artifacts. The archaeological items are on display in the women’s warm room. They include Byzantine and Ottoman architectural fragments found in and around the Bayezid II Hamam. Many were discovered during the restoration process.
The ethnographic items are on display in the women’s and men’s hot section as well as the men’s warm section. Most of the items were donated and come from different cities in Turkey. Metal items include bowls; children’s washbowls; pitchers; coffee cup trays; large round trays; copper basins; buckets; water churns; copper cups; copper coffee pots; coffee containers; copper pots; coffee roasters; brass candle holders; and tin lanterns with glass.
Weaved items include cotton towels; silk and cotton loincloths; cotton napkins; thin cotton handkerchiefs; cotton, wool, and satin bags; wool and felt prayer rugs; cheesecloth headscarves; wool bath gloves; velvet soap containers; skirts; and a petticoat. Other items include wooden bath clogs, olive oil soap, and horn and ivory combs.
Along the walls in each room are photos, drawings, historic accounts, and other important information about the history of Turkish baths.
