Grand Mosque of Bursa

{{Short description|14th-century Ottoman-era mosque in northwestern Turkey}} {{Infobox religious building |building_name = Grand Mosque of Bursa |native_name = {{langx|tr|Bursa Ulu Cami}} |image = 71 Bursa la Grande Moschea (Edited).jpg |image_upright = 1.1 |caption = |map_type = Turkey |map_size = 250 | map_relief = 1 |map_caption = Location of the mosque in [[Turkey]] |location = [[Bursa]], Turkey |coordinates = {{coord|40|11|02|N|29|03|42|E|region:TR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |latitude = |longitude = |religious_affiliation = [[Islam]] |status = [[Mosque]] |functional_status = Active |heritage_designation = |leadership = |website = {{URL|kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/bursa/gezilecekyer/bursa-ulu-cami}} |architect = Ali Neccar |architecture_type = {{nowrap|[[Mosque architecture]]}} |architecture_style = [[Islamic architecture|Islamic]], [[Ottoman architecture|Ottoman]] |capacity = |length = |width = |dome_quantity = 20 |dome_height_outer = |general_contractor = |facade_direction = |groundbreaking = 1396 |year_completed = {{start date and age|1399}} |minaret_quantity = 2 |minaret_height = |materials = | footnotes = <ref name="Bursa Tesisat">{{cite web |url=https://bursatesisatcim.com/ |newspaper=Bursa Tesisat |title=Bursa Su Tesisatı |date=14 February 2022 |language=tr |accessdate=14 February 2024 }}</ref> }}

The '''Grand Mosque of Bursa''' ({{langx|tr|Bursa Ulu Cami}}) is a historic [[mosque]] in [[Bursa]], [[Turkey]]. It was commissioned by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Sultan [[Bayezid I]] to commemorate his great victory at the [[Battle of Nicopolis]] and built between 1396 and 1399. The mosque is a major monument of [[early Ottoman architecture]] and one of the most important mosques in the city, located in the heart of the old city alongside its historic markets.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://archnet.org/sites/1914|title=Bursa Ulu Cami {{!}} Archnet|website=archnet.org|access-date=2020-04-25}}</ref>

==Historical background== The ''Ulu Cami'' or "Great Mosque" is the largest mosque in Bursa, the first capital of the [[Ottoman Empire]], and a landmark of early [[Ottoman architecture]] as it evolved out of [[Anatolian Seljuk architecture|Seljuk Turkish architecture]]. Ordered by [[Bayezid I|Sultan Bayezid I]], the [[mosque]] was designed and built by architect [[Ali Neccar]] in 1396–1399.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bursaulucamii.com/kim.html|title=Bursa Ulu Camii Kim Yaptırdı|website=www.bursaulucamii.com|access-date=2020-04-25}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bursa.gov.tr/ulucami|title=Ulucami; Osmanlı İmparatorluğu Döneminde Yapılmış Bütün Camilerin Atası|website=www.bursa.gov.tr|access-date=2020-04-25}}</ref> Bayezid I was the fourth ruler of the Ottoman Empire. Shortly after the construction of this mosque he suffered one of the empire's worse defeats at the hands of [[Timur|Timur (Tamerlane)]] at the [[Battle of Ankara]] in 1402.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Foundation of the Ottoman Empire: A History of the Osmanlis up to the Death of Bayezid I, 1300-1403|last=Gibbons|first=Herbert|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|location=Routledge}}</ref> Tradition holds that Timur went on to burn the mosque that same year and that the [[Karamanids|Qaramanid]] ruler [[Mehmet II of Karaman|Mehmed Bey]] did so again during a siege of the city in 1412.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;tr;Mon01;16;en|title=Great Mosque (Ulu Cami)|last=Demiralp|first=Yekta|website=Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers|access-date=April 24, 2020}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> Whatever the case, the first recorded repairs to the mosque took place in 1493.<ref name=":2" />

The mosque underwent further restorations across its history. Following a damaging [[1855 Bursa earthquake|earthquake in 1855]] which caused the roof to collapse, the mosque was closed for a number of years.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2018/06/18/bursas-most-prominent-landmark-the-grand-mosque|title=Bursa's most prominent landmark: The Grand Mosque|website=DailySabah|date=18 June 2018|access-date=2019-11-22}}</ref> Repairs were completed in 1889.<ref name=":2" />

The mosque is a large rectangular building measuring 55 by 69 meters with an interior surface area of 3165.5 square meters.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /> It has three entrances (to the north, west and east), of which the northern entrance is the most monumental.<ref name=":1" /> Its interior space is covered by twenty [[domes]] arranged in four rows of five that are supported by twelve columns.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The space can hold 5000 individuals.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} A popular tradition holds that Sultan Bayezid I built a mosque of twenty domes instead of building twenty separate mosques which he had promised in return for winning the [[Battle of Nicopolis]] in 1396.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rough Guide to Turkey|publisher=Rough Guides|year=2016}}</ref>

At the mosque's center is a unique fountain ([[Shadirvan|''şadırvan'']]) over a water basin with eighteen corners, which in its current form dates from the 19th century.<ref name=":2" /> The fountain and water basin helped worshipers in performing their ritual [[Wudu|ablutions]]. The dome over the şadırvan is open to the sky (though covered by glass today), creating a [[skylight]] which helps to illuminate the mosque's dark interior.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />

The mosque has two [[minaret]]s. While the western minaret is directly attached to the mosque and dates to the time of Bayezid I, the eastern minaret stands detached, suggesting that it may have been built at another time separately from the mosque.<ref name=":1" />

The mosque's walls are painted with [[Ottoman Baroque architecture|Ottoman Baroque]]-style decoration from the 19th century, as well as with [[Arabic calligraphy|calligraphic]] compositions from the 18th to early 20th centuries.<ref name=":2" /> The ''[[mihrab]]'' (niche symbolizing the [[Qibla|direction of prayer]]), carved with a canopy of ''[[muqarnas]]'', dates from 1572 by a craftsman named Mehmed and was commissioned by a patron named Zeyni Çelebi.<ref name=":1" /> Its painted and [[Gilding|gilded]] decoration dates from 1905.<ref name=":1" />

The wooden ''[[minbar]]'', next to the mihrab, is made in the traditional [[Sultanate of Rum|Anatolian Seljuk]] style using the ''kundekari'' technique (using interlocking pieces of wood held together without nails or glue).<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> The surfaces of the minbar are carved with [[Islamic geometric patterns|geometric patterns]] and [[arabesque]] floral patterns. According to a carved inscription, it was made by a craftsman named Hacı Mehmed of Antep, son of Abdülaziz, in 1400.<ref name=":1" />

[[Earthquake]]s are a major structural concern for the mosque, as they are with other buildings in Turkey. “Earthquakes are considerable threats to historically and culturally significant buildings in Turkey, with its active tectonics and seismicity”.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Makalesi|first=A|date=2016|title=INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF MODELING APPROACHES ON EARTHQUAKE BEHAVIOR OF HISTORICAL MASONRY MINARETS - BURSA GRAND MOSQUE CASE STUDY|journal=Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, İnşaat Fakültesi, İnşaat Mühendisliği Bölümü, Esenler}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=April 2020}} The mosque was seriously damaged by earthquake at least once in 1855, which required its closure for many years and major repairs and reconstruction.<ref name=":2" />

==Islamic calligraphy in the mosque== The Grand Mosque is well known for its decorative [[calligraphy]] and has even been called a “calligraphy museum”.<ref name=":0" /> In [[Islamic architecture]], [[Arabic calligraphy]] became a major element for visual decoration and communicating meaning to visitors.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Calligraphy and Architecture in the Muslim World|last=Gharipour|first=M|year=2013}}</ref> The mosque contains 192 monumental wall inscriptions, consisting of 87 different compositions written by 41 different major Ottoman calligraphers of that period.<ref name=":0" /> Most of the calligraphy dates from between 1778 and 1938.<ref name=":1" /> The calligraphy is painted on the walls, columns and on small and large plates or medallions. The compositions include [[Quran|Qur'anic]] verses, [[hadith]]s, the [[Names of God in Islam|99 names]] of [[Allah]], the different names of the [[Muhammad|Prophet Muhammad]], and the names of major Islamic scholars.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />

==Gallery== <gallery> Bursa Ulu Camii, Minaret.jpg|One of the [[minaret]]s Bursa Ulu Camii, fountain.jpg|[[Wudu|Ablution]] fountain ([[Shadirvan|şadırvan]]) in the courtyard Bursa ulu camii portal DSCF1701.jpg|The main northern entrance of the mosque Bursa 7032.jpg|View of the center of the mosque, near the skylight Turkey (68737785).jpeg|The skylight over the fountain of the mosque Bursa 7029.jpg|The interior [[Shadirvan|şadırvan]] Bursa 7030.jpg|[[Arabic calligraphy|Calligraphy]] on the walls Mihrab of Bursa Grand Mosque.jpg|The [[mihrab]] ULU CAMİİ MOSQUE BURSA TURKEY - panoramio.jpg|The [[minbar]] ULU CAMİİ BURSA KÜNDEKARİ MİNBER - panoramio.jpg|The decoration of the minbar ULU CAMİİ KÜNDEKARİ MİNBER BURSA - panoramio.jpg|Details of the upper parts of the minbar and mihrab </gallery> {{wide image|Bursa Ulu Camii.jpg|1500px|Panoramic interior view of the mosque, August 2009}}

==See also== {{stack|{{portal|Turkey|Islam}}}} * [[List of Turkish Grand Mosques]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * [http://www.bursaulucamii.com/ BursaUluCamii.com Official Website] * [http://wowturkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3788 Images of Bursa Grand Mosque] * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090813105814/http://www.waitmeturkey.com/bursa-ulu-cami-or-grand-mosque.html Images of Bursa Ulu Mosque]}} * [http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/bursaulu Picture gallery of the mosque]

{{Mosques in Turkey}} {{Ottoman architecture}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:1390s establishments in the Ottoman Empire]] [[Category:Ottoman mosques in Bursa]] [[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1399]] [[Category:Mosques completed in the 1390s]] [[Category:1399 establishments in Asia]] [[Category:Mosque buildings with domes in Turkey]] [[Category:Osmangazi]] [[Category:Grand mosques|Bursa]] [[Category:21st-century attacks on mosques]] [[Category:Mosque buildings with minarets in Turkey]] [[Category:Bayezid I]]