Gerard Dockery says:
San Pietro ("St. Peter") is a Roman Catholic church in Porto Venere, province of La Spezia, northern Italy, facing the Gulf of Poets.
The Church was built upon an ancient Pagan Temple.
It was officially consecrated in 1198. The part in white and black bands dates from the 13th century (probably made between 1256 and 1277) and was restored between 1931 and 1935. This part was derived from an older body, which consists of the early church, but left the bell tower is based on the chapel left of the presbytery.
The original church dates from the 5th century, in Syriac type, with rectangular plan and semicircular apse. It lost the title of parish in the late 14th century, in favor of the Church of San Lorenzo. It was officiated by the secular clergy until 1798.
The poet Eugenio Montale dedicated a poem to the church.
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Gerard Dockery says:
Beiteddine Palace (Arabic: قصر بيت الدين) is an 18th-century palace in Beiteddine, Lebanon, built by Bashir II. The palace hosts the annual Beiteddine Festival and the Beiteddine Palace Museum.
Emir Bashir II of the Shihab dynasty, who later became the ruler of the Mount Lebanon Emirate, built the palace between 1788 and 1818 at the site of the Druze hermitage. After 1840, the palace was used by the Ottomans as a government building. During the French Mandate it served as a local administrative office.
In 1943, the palace was declared the president's official summer residence. During the Lebanese Civil War it was heavily damaged. Parts of the palace are today open to the public while the rest is still the president's summer residence.
A gathering of troops here for an incursion into Syria under Ibrahim Pasha is recorded in the notes to Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration The Gathering of the Chieftains at Beteddein to an engraving of a painting (showing the palace) by William Henry Bartlett in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839.
The Beiteddine Palace is recognized as a fine illustration of Lebanese architecture from the early 19th century, with notable Italian influences.
The palace's main entrance leads to a 107x45 meter courtyard. Along the right side of this court is a two-story wing, Al-Madafa, which was once used for receiving guests.
The entrance to the central section of the palace, Dar El Wousta, is from a double stairway at the far western end of the courtyard. From this point on, the impressive but austere appearance of the outside court and buildings gives way to the delightful architecture featuring beautiful arcades, mandaloun balconies, fountains, facades, rooms with carved and painted cedar wood embellished with Arabic calligraphy, antique furniture, inlaid marble and fine mosaics. These rooms served as offices and receptions salons.
At the far end of this courtyard rise the private apartments, Dar el Harim, composed of a large and richly decorated façade, the Upper Harem, the selamlik, the Lower Harem and the kitchens.
At the northern edge of the Dar El Harim section is the hammam.
Beyond the hammam is the tree-shaded tomb of Emir Bashir Shehab II and his first wife.
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Gerard Dockery says:
The Monastery of Saint Thaddeus (Armenian: Սուրբ Թադէոսի վանք, Surb Tadeosi vank; Persian: کلیسای تادئوس مقدس, Kelisā-ye Tādeus moghadas) The "Holy Tadeosi Cathedral " is an ancient Armenian monastery in the mountainous area of West Iran, in Iranian West Azerbaijan. It is believed to be one of the oldest church buildings in the world.
Also known as Kare Kilisa (the "Stone made Church") Kare, mean Stone in Armenian,language Kelisa means church in Persian, language it is located about 20 kilometers from the town of Chaldiran. in iran Ancient east, Armenia The monastery and its distinctive Armenian conical roofs are visible from long distances.
The Monastery is site of the Pilgrimage of St. Thaddeus which in 2020 was added by UNESCO to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
According to the tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Saint Thaddeus, also known as Saint Jude, evangelized the region of Armenia and Persia. According to Moses of Khorenatsi, an Armenian historian writing in the 5th century, Thaddeus suffered martyrdom in Armenia under King Sanatruk, and is revered as an apostle of the Armenian Church. Legend has it that a church dedicated to him was first built on the present site, also the site of his tomb, in AD 66, with another source placing the fondation in AD 239 by St. Gregory the Illuminator. Another tradition states that Thaddeus built a monastery at the site for his followers, who buried him there upon his death. The exact date of construction is unknown.
The monastery was damaged in 1231, during the Mongol invasion of Armenia, and the Persian Empire, and again in 1242.
Little remains of the monastery's original structure, as it was extensively rebuilt after an earthquake damaged it in 1319, during which 75 monks died. Nevertheless, some of the parts surrounding the altar apse date from the 7th century.
Much of the present structure dates from 1811, when the Qajar prince Abbas Mirza aided renovations and repairs. Simeon, Father Superior of the monastery, added a large narthex-like real Armenian architecture, west extension to the church.
The west extension duplicates the design of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The 19th century additions were constructed from ashlar Ashlar masonry stone. The earliest sections are black and white stone.
In July 2008, the Monastery of Saint Thaddeus was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, along with two other Armenian monuments in the same province: the Monastery of Saint Stepanos and the Chapel of Dzordzor.
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Gerard Dockery says:
Monastery of Saint Anthony of Qozhaya, or Monastery of Qozhaya (also Qazahya; Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܐܢܛܘܢܝܘܣ ܩܘܙܚܝܐ, Arabic: دير مار أنطونيوس قزحيا) is a large and important Maronite monastery. It is located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon.
The Monastery of Qozhaya holds significant importance within Maronite tradition and history. Its origins date back to the 13th century, serving as a residence for monks and, at one point, functioning as the headquarters of the Maronite Patriarchate. In the 16th century, it housed the Middle East's first printing press, which is still accessible to visitors. Its land holdings extended to the surrounding areas of the Kadisha Valley.
The monastery features a notable church, housing for nuns and monks, and an expansive cave known as the Grotto of Saint Anthony. Known for its association with various events, it also offers a guest house.
It is dedicated to Saint Anthony the Great. It is commonly called Qozhaya, in reference to the valley in which it is located. The valley of Qozhaya, along with the valley of Qannoubine (Arabic: قنوبين) to which it is connected to the west, form what is called the Kadisha Valley.
The etymology of the name Qozhaya varies according to the opinions of scholars. However, in recent years the Syriac origin was most commonly adopted, and approximately translates to the treasure of life.
Qozhaya is considered to be one of the oldest monasteries of the valley of Qadisha. It was founded during the last centuries of the Roman Empire in Roman Phoenicia.
Historians and scholars suppose that this Monastery was first built and began to be occupied by hermits at the beginning of the fourth century. It was several times looted, set on fire and razed to the ground, but there still remain vestiges dating back to the seventh century.
Several hermitages are attached to it; and at a certain period (probably the 12th Century AD) it has been the See of the Maronite Patriarch.
In 1584, the first printing press of the Middle East was installed in this monastery, under the leadership of patriarch Yuhanna Makhlouf. In 1610, The press printed a bilingual Psalter in a small folio of 260 pages. The psalms are arranged in two columns, on the right is the text in Syriac and on the left in Arabic, but written in Syriac letters, which is known as Garshuni.
In 1708, it was handed down to the newly formed Lebanese Maronite Order. It still belongs to this important Order. Qozhaya was at its pinnacle in the first part of the 19th Century with more than 300 monks belonging to it.
With its large properties in the valley, in Ain-Baqra and in Jedaydeh, Qozhaya is one of the richest monasteries of the Order. It contributes financially to the maintenance of the less fortunate monasteries of the Order.
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Gerard Dockery says:
The Mosque of Qani-Bay is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt. The complex is named after Qani-Bay al-Sayfi, nicknamed "al-Rammah", who was Grand Master of the Horse during the reign of Sultan al-Ghuri. It was built between AD 1503 and 1504 (AH 908) on a hill watching over the hippodrome and Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan. The site was chosen since the horse market and stables of the Citadel were originally located just off the square.
The complex has a main façade that takes maximum advantage of the view and at the same time exposes itself to the people below. The complex was restored first in 1895 and then again in the early 2000s.
Gerard Dockery says:
"The Qartawiyya is certainly the largest and most handsome madrasa in Tripoli and its most important building in this category. As its name indicates, it was founded by Qaratay ("the Black Colt"), whose full name, Amir Shahab al-Din Qaratay ibn Abdallah al-Nasiri al-Ashrafi al-Jukundar al-Hajib, was established by Sobernheim. Qaratay was governor of Tripoli twice: first from A.H. 716 to 726 (A.D. 1316 - 26) and then from A.H. 733 to 734 (A.D. 1332-33). During his first term of office he endowed the Great Mosque with its beautiful minbar dated A.H. 726 (A.D. 1326). Although the building does not carry a founding inscription, the literature tells us that Qaratay ordered the building of a madrasa in which he was later buried, the one of famous repute, known as the Qartawiyyah and thus establishes him as its founder. As to the date of its construction, we know that Qaratay died at the end of the first year of his second term and was buried in his madrasa; so we at least know that the building was erected before 1333.
The only inscription which clearly pertains to the time of its construction is a simple Qur'anic text (Surat al-Hijr, 45-47), which unfortunately adds nothing to our understanding of the building. It is set in the center of the lintel above the main entrance and consists of five lines of clear carving:
"The God-fearing shall be amidst gardens and fountains. Enter you thee, in peace and security. We shall strip away all rancour that is in their breast; as brothers they shall be upon couches set face to face."
In addition to this inscription, the Qartawiyya has a veritable bulletin board of Mamluk decrees from various times on the outside of its southern wall, but these inscriptions all date from after its construction and bear no relation to the building to which they are attached.
The Qartawiyya has an elaborate, organized facade that runs the entire length of its northern wall and is built of alternating courses of well-cut and carefully dressed black and white stone. The white stones are wider than the black, and the whole is framed by a simple stone molding running all around the facade. The portal is in the center of a symmetrical composition consisting of a large rectangular window on either side, topped by a course of beautiful ablaq at the lower level and two small rectangular windows at the upper level. The two upper windows on the western side of the facade are covered with a carved stone grill of a complex radiating pattern and are framed by a band of small fan-like motifs. While this type of stone window grill was common in Syria from the time of the Umayyads, the two windows are the only examples of it to be found in Tripoli. The portal rises above the madrasa. It provides a fine example of Mamluk craftsmanship, including two reused white marble columns whose capitals are set on either side of the doorway.
The inner wall is opened by a simple rectangular door topped by a flat lintel containing the Quranic inscription in its center and an elaborately decorated joggled relieving arch of red, white, and black stone. The narrow tympanum between the lintel and the arch contains a carved "Bismillah" in white stone on a black background. We have already encountered this kind of arrangement above an opening in Taynal's mosque, and we shall see it again on the outside of the southern wall of the Qartawiyya.
Above the door and below the crowning muqarnas is a square plaque of polychrome marble. The design, a rotating swastika motif, consists of four loops around a central large circle formed by woven bands and ending in four sets of corner knots, square on the outer corners and triangular inside. The technique and materials used are typically Mamluk, but the simple motif itself is much older. It is of Christian origin (Byzantine examples abound) but was taken over by the Muslims, is who integrated it into their decorative vocabulary and adapted it to all kinds of uses and with varying degrees of complexity. At times it reached a level of intricacy and busyness, for example, in the Mosque of Qadi Yahya in Cairo (1444), that borders on the absurd; rarely is it found in as pure, bold, and dynamic a form as on the Qartawiyya.
The upper third of the gate is dominated by an arch of a three dimensional dogtooth or chevron motif surrounding an empty half-dome above three rows of muqarnas. This heavy, well-defined, three dimensional zigzag pattern with protruding triangular units is of Crusader origin. The Normans used it extensively" and seem to have taken it with them wherever they went. In addition to Normandy itself, numerous examples can be found in England, for instance, on the twelfth century Church of St. Mary at Iffley near Oxford, and in Sicily where it was introduced during the reign of Roger II (1101-54), for instance on the Cathedral of Cefalu. is In the Holy Land, Norman influence came with the Crusaders in the twelfth century and was quickly taken up by the Arabs. By Mamluk times it had become a fairly common decorative motif. In its Christian version it can still be seen on the Baptistry of the Church of St. John in Giblet (present-day Jubayl or Byblos).
Examples of its Muslim version can be found in Jerusalem on the public fountains of al-Silsilah, Birkat al-Sultan and Qaytbay, and in Aleppo on the mosques of al-Sahib, al-Sarawl, al-Bayyadah, and the fountain known as Qastal al-Sakakini. In Mardin, arches with the same motif are found in older monuments like the 1385 Madrasah of Sultan Qasim, and remained in the architectural vocabulary of the city in a flatter version still used to decorate the doors and windows of houses today. In Tripoli, the dogtooth motif is found in its purest Norman form on the Qartawiyya and on the façade of Khan al-Manzil built in 1309 on the right bank of the Qadisha River.
The interior of the Qartawiyya is spacious and clearly defined. It is essentially a covered three-iwan madrasa plan with a central court, an eastern and a western iwan for teaching and gatherings, and a southern iwan extended horizontally and used for prayer. The central courtyard is sunk about 50 centimeters lower than the iwans around it. Its main feature is a very large oblong fountain, built of four slabs of white marble-one to a side-with four corner colonnettes, set in the middle of the court and used for ablutions. The fountain itself is impressive only for its size (4 by 4.5 meters), but the marble floor around it, whose square patterns of various geometric red, black, and white marble motifs alternate with plain white marble squares, displays the harmonious color and good organization of a masterfully applied technique.
The eastern and western iwans are plain oblong rooms, more functional than decorative, but the southern one, a horizontal prayer room running the width of the building, displays a whole collection of fourteenth-century decorative marble panels. The qibla wall includes an entirely paneled mihrab in its center with two windows and two wall segments on either side. Both are lined with decorative panels of red, white, and black marble. The mihrab has vertical panels on its main body and horizontal bands in its half-dome ending in a joggled pattern on the arch. The wall segments are covered by large square plaques, each containing a different motif. The general effect is very rich, and bold and pleasing to the modern taste. The patterns are large, the color scheme limited, the lines are simple, and the technique is impeccable.
Two massive domes of the Qartawiyya's superstructure stand out; the rest are covered by simple vaulting or cross-vaulting. The dome over the central court area is a large cupola, with an octagonal opening in its center and four small windows on its sides, touching the walls on an octagonal zone resting on four plain pendentives with a single decorative squinch at the lower corner of the triangle. Over the mihrab is a large oval dome with sixteen arched windows resting on four plain pendentives. The domes are massive but otherwise of no particular interest. They merely cover the areas under them, and certainly do not match the quality and technique of the rest of the structure.
Behind the Madrasah Qartawiyya runs a passageway with decorated vaulting leading from the Suq al-Attarm to the eastern side of the Great Mosque. It is the only public way that is so decorated. The decoration consists of bands of stucco running on either side of the lines of the vaulting and interlacing in circles or x's; circular medallions are applied on the arches between the vaulting.
The southern wall of the Qartawiyya which gives onto this passageway is as organized, composed, and as carefully executed as the rest of the building. The wall is framed on three sides by a simple fish-scale motif, and is pierced by four identical windows set equidistantly at floor level. The windows are tied together at the lintel level by a long band of white marble. Within each window this band is decorated by two rectangular plaques on either side of an octagonal motif; the three elements displaying Mamluk geometrical star patterns repeated on alternate windows. All four windows have elaborately decorated joggled relieving arches, identical with those seen on the main entrance of the Mosque of Taynal and the facade of the Qartawiyya, and include a short Qur'anic inscription (sections from the Surat al-Tawbah) on the tympanum.
On two of the windows the central decorative unit includes a blazon, which is also seen on a corner of the vaulting (upper left side). The blazon is undoubtedly that of Qaratay, so we can assume that the vaulting is contemporary with the madrasa. Qaratay must have had the madrasa built with a facade on the street and another with windows, on the passage leading to the mosque. He took care to decorate the passage like the structure itself so that the blazon on the windows and on the stucco decoration on the vaulting acts as a signature linking the two together.
In the fifteenth century the lower part of the qibla wall of the Qartawiyya was used to display official decrees promulgating some taxes and abolishing others, discouraging abuses, and protecting the people of Tripoli from infractions of the law. What would today appear in the official paper of the municipality was then carefully inscribed on marble slabs on the wall of the alley leading to the mosque for passers-by to see. Although a side entrance, the eastern door of the Great Mosque was still the door closest to the active life of the city and probably the one by which the heaviest traffic passed. The Qartawiyya wall was therefore a convenient place to display decrees (Salam 1983: 107-118)."
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Gerard Dockery says:
San Bartolomeo in Pantano is a Romanesque and Gothic style, Roman Catholic church in Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy, dedicated to St. Bartholomew the Apostle. The pantano of the name refers to the once marshy area in which the building was located.
The church and the adjacent Benedictine abbey were founded during the Lombard domination of Italy, between 726 and 767, by the Lombard physician Gaiduald or Guidoaldo. The Benedictines were established under the protection of the Marquises of Tuscany. In 1001, the Marquis Ugo the Great died in the abbey. The complex was first restored in the 12th century by Abbot Buono.
In 1433 the Benedictines, whose numbers had dwindled, were replaced by Canons Regular of the Lateran, which were related to the Augustinian canons. These were derived from the monastery associated with San Frediano. In the 17th-century, the monastery was given to the Vallumbrosan Order, which remained here in 1810, the church then becoming a parish church.
The church gained its present appearance at the time of Buono in 1159, rebuilt in the Pistoiese Romanesque style. Characteristic of this style is the façade, divided into five compartments with arches supported by slender columns, and with a marble bichrome decoration. The portal in the facade is graced with notable Romanesque sculptures; the architrave has a row of standing individuals in togas, depicting "Jesus with the Twelve Apostles" (dated to 1167). Above are two male lions, one atop a guarding a recumbant man, the other atop a bird. Above the portal is a latin script.
The interior was much changed over the centuries, but a restoration held in 1951-1961 brought it to the original appearance. In the apse was found a Christ in Majesty between Saints and Angels from the late 13th century, attributed to Manfredino d'Alberto. The pulpit sculpted in the mid 13th century by Guido da Como was also restored. The wooden crucifix in the high altar is from an unknown sculptor with a style resembling that of Giovanni Pisano.
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Gerard Dockery says:
Prato Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Stephen, (Italian: Duomo di Prato; Cattedrale di San Stefano) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prato, Tuscany, Central Italy, from 1954 the seat of the Bishop of Prato, having been previously, from 1653, a cathedral in the Diocese of Pistoia and Prato. It is dedicated to Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
It is one of the most ancient churches in the city, and was already in existence in the 10th century. It was built in several successive stages in the Romanesque style. The church contains a number of notable works of art, in particular fine sculpture.
The church of Saint Stephen was built in a green meadow (Prato) after an appearance of the Virgin Mary near the village of Borgo al Cornio (the present center of Prato). The first building was a small parish church, documented as early as AD 994 as the Pieve di Santo Stefano. A substantial expansion of the church building began in the 15th century, enlarging the nave and aisles, and erecting the bell tower (completed 1356); this transformed the modest building into the Gothic-Romanesque building we see today.
During the 14th century the cathedral acquired an important relic, the Sacra Cintola or Belt of the Holy Virgin. This brought about the enlargement of the edifice by the addition of a transept which is attributed to Giovanni Pisano, but is probably the work of a pupil of Nicola Pisano. The Cintola Chapel was also built at this time to house the relic.
In the early 15th century, a new façade or west front was added in the International Gothic style, in front of the old one. In the space between the two was created a narthex or corridor leading to the external pulpit, built by Michelozzo and decorated by Donatello between 1428 and 1438. The seven original reliefs of the parapet were removed from the pulpit in 1967 and can be seen today in Prato's cathedral museum.
The façade is architecturally simple, the shape of the building informing the new structure so that its low-pitched central roof and sloping side aisles mark the roofline, which is enlivened with an open parapet of simple Gothic tracery, uniting the building with the sky. The façade is divided into three sections by shallow buttresses or pilasters. That part above the springing of the door arch is faced with marble in bold contrasting stripes, while the lower part is pale-coloured but much stained in some areas, possibly from the absorption of pollutants.
The façade has a single central portal with a lintelled doorway surmounted by a Gothic arch. In the lunette over the door is a glazed terracotta sculpture by Andrea della Robbia depicting the Madonna with Saints Stephen and John.
Below the central gable, a decorative clock is set into the façade, in place of a central window. It is surrounded by segments of the contrasting marble and forms part of the harmonious design.
The frescoes of the transept chapel are also of the 15th century, but are in the Renaissance painting style.
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Gerard Dockery says:
San Francesco is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church located in front of the square named after the church, in the historic center of Prato, region of Tuscany.
San Francesco’s church, in the homonym square (XII–XIV sec.), it is located in the nucleus of the Oldest City of Prato and an Important Place of Catholic worship and one of the first Franciscan Churches with his big convent built on the ground that was donated by the municipality to the friars minor only eight days after the canonization of the saint, in 1228.
Construction of the monastery on land donated to the friars minor began a few days after the canonization of the saint in 1228; construction of the present church began in 1281, next to the oratory of the monastery. The church was finished in 1331, among the first buildings in Prato built in brickwork instead of stone. The façade is divided in bichrome stripes in alberese and serpentinite with a central portal, and ends with a 15th-century triangular tympanum with a stucco frieze by Andrea Della Robbia, depicting the Stigmata of St Francis. The 18th-century bell-tower was designed by Antonio Benini (1799-1801).
In 1902, a restoration of the interiors stripped some of baroque decoration, aiming to leave only the earliest medieval decoration.
Among the artworks are the funerary monument of Geminiano Inghirami (c. 1460), attributed to Pasquino da Montepulciano, who also executed the small cyborium on the presbytery wall. Pasquino's style recalls the work of Antonio Rossellino.
Next to a Renaissance pulpit in pietra serena is a 15th-century panel with Christ's Monogram, which was traditionally added to churches visited by San Bernardino; above the high altar is a 14th-century polychrome wooden Crucifix, donated by the merchant Francesco Datini (who was buried next to the altar). The latter's tomb in white marble (work of Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti, 1411–12) portrays him within an elaborated Gothic tabernacle.
Regnadori's Chapel Through door below the choir, on the left of the presbytery, we can enter into the Chapel Regnadori, protruding from the side of the church. Completed in the first half of the fourteenth century, the ceiling has two cross vault with ribs; the wall to the left of the entrance is decorated with a cornice in pietra serena during the late renaissance, with and arch on fluted pilasters, with that, we can access to another chapel coeval (of employers Spighi) demolished in 1903. The wall in front of the entrance retains traces of seventeenth century frescoes; and on the semipilaster is carved the family crest of the Regnadori family (for which the chapel was named) . To the right is a lancet window and there while the neo-Gothic altar ciborium is the Same that adorn one time an altar. Side of the altar there are niches with statues: on the left a “Ecce Homo” century in colored wax.
The cloister, dating to 1438–1440, features Ionic columns. It has several coat of arms from the 15th-19th centuries, and several frescoes: a lunette with the Madonna and Child and a tabernacle with the Madonna Enthroned and Saints from the early 14th century.
he Chapter (or Migliorati's Chapel) was entirely frescoed around 1400 by Niccolò Gerini, with figures inspired by Giotto. The scenes include a ruined Cricifixion, the Stories of St. Matthew and Stories of St. Anthony (the latter also damaged) and, on the vault, the Evangelists.
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Gerard Dockery says:
A church at the site was initially built in the 13th century, but has undergone extensive reconstructions. The church is notable for retaining its 13th-century bell-tower with mullioned windows. The facade dates to the late 16th century with the main elements made with black lava stone. In the facade, the central nave is two stories and connects through volutes to the lateral aisles.
The interior houses a marble baptismal font (1447) by Angelo Riccio; a Crucifix (1530) by Matinati, a 15th-century Pieta, a marble gothic ciborium, a polyptich depicting the Madonna between Saints Magdalen and Martha attributed to Antonello da Saliba, a Madonna delle Grazie by Vincenzo Gagini (1535), and a Madonna della Misericordia by followers of Gagini.
Gerard Dockery says:
The mosque is oriented along the northwest-southeast axis and is preceded by a courtyard to the northwest. Three monumental portals, facing northwest, southeast, and southwest, lead into the square open courtyard, which is enveloped by the domed arcade and the mosque portico. The ablution fountain at the center of the courtyard was renovated with a roof during the rule of Murad IV (1623-1640/1032-1049 AH). The courtyard arcade hosted an open bazaar each year during Ramadan until the 1920s.
The prayer hall is entered through a muqarnas portal from a portico. It is the same size as the mosque courtyard and consists of a domed central space extended with two semi-domes along the qibla axis and side arcades covered with four small domes. The central dome, which measures 16.80 meters in diameter at a height of fourty-four meters, is carried on four colossal piers that are woven into the colonnade separating the side arcades from the main space. A sultan's lodge (hünkar mahfili) occupies the qibla end of the southwest arcade and is accessed primarily from the exterior. There is a muezzin's lodge (müezzin mahfili) adjoining the inner side of the western pier. The space is lit with twenty windows at the base of the dome and seven windows on each semi-dome, in addition to two tiers of windows on the walls.
Hospice wings designed to host wondering dervishes, a common feature of early Ottoman mosques, are also seen here adjoining the prayer hall at the end of the courtyard walls. Originally designed as four domed rooms surrounding a domed central hall with separate access from the square, the wings were integrated into the prayer hall sometime during the sixteenth century and now consist of three consecutive rooms separated by archways. A small domed structure was added to the end of the southwest wing in 1767 to house the library of Seyhülislam Haci Veliyüddin Efendi. A cemetery with walls envelops three sides of the mosque, extending from the hospice wings to the main street. The side entrances into the mosque, which are located next to the hospice wings, are accessed through gates along the cemetery walls. Two minarets are attached at the outward ends of the hospice wings; the northeast minaret was rebuilt after an earthquake while the southwest minaret, restored in 1953-54, retains its original terracotta decoration.
The structure of the Bayezid mosque is considered a stepping stone between early Ottoman architecture and classical Ottoman architecture, characterized by a central dome held by semi-domes on all four sides. Although the mosque is constructed entirely of cut stone, colored stones and marbles appropriated from Byzantine ruins were used throughout the exterior and interior to highlight the architecture, such as red porphyry columns marking entrance bays along the courtyard arcade. Muqarnas carvings embellish all capitals and portals, the mihrab niche and minaret balconies. The minbar, the sultan's lodge and the women's section, which is a balcony placed above the prayer hall entrance, exhibit the fine stone latticework of the period and the original wood carvings can be seen on doors and windowpanes.
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