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The complex, which is
scattered throughout Beyazit
Square, was built by
Sultan Bayezid II and
completed in the years
1500-1505. It was originally
thought to have been
designed by
Mimar Sinan Hayreddin or
Mimar Kemaleddin but later
research suggests the
architect may been Yakubsah
Bin Sultan.
The complex is composed
of a
mosque, a
kitchen, a primary
school, a
hospital, a
medrese, a
hamam, a
soup kitchen for the
poor and a
caravanserai. It differs
from the
fatih.html complex before it
in that it was not built
symmetrically but in a
seemingly random style.
Beyazit Mosque is at the
center of the complex. Its
main dome is 16.78 meters in
diameter and is supported by
four pillars. An oddity is
that one of the
minarets is 79 meters
from the other and is
contiguous with the
hospital. The stone and
wood craftsmanship and
stained glass are artistic
masterpieces. The courtyard
paving materials and pillars
used for the reservoir for
ablutions were reclaimed
from
Byzantine ruins and
re-used. These pillars in
particular demonstrate the
quality of
Byzantine workmanship.
The
soup kitchen and
Caravanserai are to the
left of the
mosque and are used
today by the Beyazit State
Library. The
medresse far to the
right of the
mosque is used as a
museum by the Turkish
Foundation of Calligraphy.
The
hamam is some distance
from the
medresse on Ordu Street
next to the Department of
Literature. Tombs are found
on the
Kiblah [Mecca]
side of the
mosque. Sultan Bayezid
II, his daughter Selcuk
Hatun and the architect of
Tanzimat Fermani, Mustafa
Resit Pasa, are
buried here.
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