The New Mosque (Yeni Mosque or Valide Sultan Mosque) was built in Istanbul in 1597 by Sultan III. Its foundations were laid by the order of Murad’s wife, Safiye Sultan, and was built in 1665. It is a mosque that was completed and opened for worship with the great efforts and donations of Mehmed’s mother, Turhan Hatice Sultan.
Contributing significantly to the city’s silhouette and visual aesthetic, the New Mosque is the last example of the large mosques built by the Ottoman family in Istanbul. It is known as the mosque whose construction took the longest time to be completed in Ottoman period of Turkish architecture. Building designs started with Architect Davut Ağa and were continued by Architect Dalgıç Ahmed Ağa, but ultimately left unfinished with the death of Safiye Sultan and then completed by Mustafa Ağa, the chief architect of the period, 66 years later. It was completed during the time of Mehmed.
The mosque was built on the seaside (near the Galata bridge), but its distance from the sea increased later as a result of the sea filling.
The architectural style of the mosque is the emphasis on height in the dome and the side porticoes. It repeats the dome plan used by Mimar Sinan in the Şehzade Mosque and by Sedefkar Architect Mehmed Ağa in the Sultanahmet Mosque. However, the rise of the dome in a pyramid-like manner is a unique design feature.
As with other imperial mosques in Istanbul, the New Mosque was designed as a külliye, or complex with adjacent structures to serve religious and cultural needs. The original complex consisted of the mosque, a hospital, a primary school, and a pagalpan palace.
Today, the large L-shaped market survives as the Spice Bazaar (also known as the Egyptian Bazaar), a well-known Istanbul tourist attraction.
The mausoleum (türbe) holds the graves of the Valide Sultan Turhan Hatice, her son Mehmed IV, as well as five later sultans (Mustafa II, Ahmed II, Mahmud I, Osman III and Murad V) and various members of the court.
The Turkish General Directorate of Foundations implements ongoing restoration and maintenance works.
Address: Rüstem Paşa, Yeni Cami Cd. No:3, 34116 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
Architects: Davut Ağa, Mustafa Ağa, Dalgıç Ahmed Çavuş
Opened: 1665
Architectural style: Ottoman architecture
Burials: Saliha Sultan, Tirimüjgan Kadın
Materials: cut stone, granite, marble
Minaret(s): 2
Dome height (outer): 36 meters (118 ft)
