Emir Sultan Complex

Bursa, Türkiye

Semseddin Mehmed Ali el-Hüseyin, a dervish and scholar from Bukhara, was the adviser and son-in-law of Bayezid I. The present mosque bearing his epithet, Emir Sultan, was built in 1804 (1219 A.H.) upon the orders of Selim III, after the collapse of the original fourteenth century monument in the 1766 earthquake. Although the materials and the location were maintained, the style was adjusted to reflect baroque design that came into fashion following the earthquake of 1855. The mausoleum (türbe) of Emir Sultan was rebuilt later in 1868 (1285 A.H) by Sultan Abdülaziz.

The mosque and mausoleum stand on opposite sides of a large courtyard with large basin at the enter. The courtyard entrances are on the east and the west and the mosque and mausoleum are accessed through the courtyard. A wooden arcade with pointed arches wraps around the courtyard and rises to form portals with tall domes at bays leading into the buildings.

The mosque, on the south, is a tall single-unit prayer hall of masonry construction. There are two minarets at its corners on the north. The mausoleum, also on the south, is composed of a domed room in the center and smaller rooms to its sides and houses the tombs of Emir Sultan and his family. Other rooms on the north corner of the courtyard are for use by imams. An old cemetery covers the downside of the hill from the complex. Hundi Hatun, the wife of Emir Sultan and daughter of Bayezid I, built the hamam to the south of the mosque. There are numerous historic fountains scattered around the complex; the earliest is from 1743.

Sources:

Baykal, Kazim. 1982 (Edited reprint of original from 1950). Bursa ve Anitlari. Istanbul: Türkiye Anit Çevre Turizm Degerlerini Koruma Vakfi.

Taylor, Jane. 1998 (revised edition). Imperial Istanbul : a traveler's guide, includes Iznik, Bursa and Edirne. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers.

Gabriel, Albert. 1958. Une Capitale Turque, Brousse, Bursa. Paris, E. de Boccard.