The Nuruosmaniye & Süleymaniye

Mosque and the Ottoman Baroque

Class IAED 420

Due Apr 16, 2021

Student Cemile Alpboğa

Type Review

Nuruosmaniye is different from the other mosques in the sense of design, for instance: Hagia
Sophia. It is different by its decorations, plan, domes, arches and etc. In Nuruosmaniye we can
see the influence of the Baroque style easily, we can see curvilinear and rounded arches, C and
S shape scrolls and etc. After Italy and Europe Baroque went global so it was used in Ottoman
and it is called "Ottoman Baroque". At first, the Baroque style was used on smaller scales but
with the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, it was used on a bigger scale. According to Peyssonnel, "The
mosque is like a mixture of the Turkish and European style of architecture." As the Nuruosmaniye
Mosque has European style also it has local Turkish) style elements so we can understand the
reason that why it is called "Ottoman Baroque." The Baroque style was not copied but adopted in
Ottoman, it was like a mixture of European Baroque and Arabesque.

On the other hand, when we look at the Süleymaniye Mosque, it was representing that how
magnificent is the Suleyman I. Süleymaniye Mosque was made for as the new and better Hagia
Sophia Mosque. The plan of the Süleymaniye Mosque was different from the other mosques.
Both the natural and artificial light sources help to give a different illusion to the interior
atmosphere. We can see many windows on walls and domes so the mosque can be illuminated
from many angles. We can see stained glass windows in the interior and the patterns which are
used on the windows represent religious things such as some of the surahs from the Quran. The
mosque is inspired by old forms, for example in the columns we cannot see the basic designs
such as doric, ionic and etc.

To sum up, the Nuruosmaniye Mosque is the best example of the Ottoman Baroque and it
represents the style very well. At the same time, when we look at the Süleymaniye Mosque, we
can see the perfect representation of the Süleyman the Magnificent and the significant example
of the architectural structure of Ottoman History.

The Nuruosmaniye & Süleymaniye Mosque and the Ottoman Baroque 1