Grand Mosque

About Grand Mosque

Mosque in Bursa, northwestern Turkey

The Grand Mosque of Bursa, Ulu Cami, in the heart of the old city beside its historic markets, is the largest mosque in Bursa, the first Ottoman capital, and a landmark of early Ottoman architecture as it grew out of the Seljuk tradition. Sultan Bayezid I commissioned it to celebrate his victory at Nicopolis, and the architect Ali Neccar built it between 1396 and 1399. Tradition says the sultan vowed to build twenty mosques if he won, and instead built one with twenty domes, carried on twelve massive piers in regular rows, with two minarets. That makes it closer to the Seljuk mosques of Anatolia than to later Ottoman mosques with a single central dome. It was rebuilt several times after damage, including a fire attributed to Timur in 1402 and the earthquake of 1855, always keeping the original design. It is famous for the huge Arabic calligraphy panels on its walls and piers, among the finest collections of calligraphy in the Islamic world, for the ablution fountain (şadırvan) inside the prayer hall beneath an open dome that lets in light, and for its finely carved wooden minbar. It also holds a section of a Kaaba door covering made in Mamluk Egypt, and is part of the Bursa and Cumalıkızık UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Where:

Bursa, Türkiye