Ulu Camii

Ulu Camii is the major mosque of Bursa and a landmark of early Ottoman architecture. It was built by Ali Neccar in 1396-1399, at Sultan Bayezid I's command. The mosque is large and rectangular, with twenty domes arranged in four rows of five supported by twelve columns. Supposedly twenty domes are built instead of twenty separate mosques that Sultan Bayezid I promised for winning the Battle of Nicopolis. It has two minarets. Inside the mosque there are 192 monumental wall inscriptions written by famous calligraphers. There is also a fountain (şadırvan) inside the mosque where worshipers can perform ritual ablutions before prayer; the dome over the şadırvan is capped by a skylight, creating a soft, serene light below. The story of the şadırvan inside the mosque, which is unheard of, that the land belong to an old lady who objected to her store taken by padişah. Because consent is not given for the piece of land, prayer cannot be conducted on it thus a şadırvan is built. Architecturally şadırvan helps to have light inside the mosque that is big.

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Uploaded on June 21, 2009
Taken on June 13, 2009