Description of the attraction
The famous Uch-Sherefeli-Jami Mosque, or, as it is also called, the Mosque with three balconies, is located north of the Edirne bazaar and to the right of the main square of the city. It stands right on the main street of the city, opposite the Bedesten covered market. During the construction years of the building (1437-1447), it was the largest building in the city. Its original architecture bears signs of a transition from a Seljuk temple to a classical one.
A special feature of the mosque is its rather large courtyard, which was used here for the first time in the history of Ottoman architecture. In the center of this open courtyard is the shadyrvan fountain, where it is customary to wash your face, hands and feet on the way to the prayer hall. The courtyard is surrounded by galleries covered with domes. In addition, during the construction of the mosque, another innovation was used - they learned how to make a ceiling in the form of one dome, and not from several, as before. The dome, huge at that time, is located on a hexagonal drum resting on two outer walls and two massive columns inside. The dome has a diameter of 24 meters.
Four minarets of different styles and heights, located in the corners of the rectangular courtyard, add a special charm to this unusual mosque. They seem surprisingly disproportionate in relation to the huge massive building - they are very tall and thin. The highest of them, 67 meters high, has three sherefe balconies, each of which has a separate staircase. The minaret is made of red and white stone, forming an original zigzag pattern. The second minaret, called "baklavaly" (which means - with baklava), is decorated with a diamond-shaped ornament and two balconies. The third minaret, called "Burmals" (which means - twisted), attracts with its original decoration in the form of a spiral covering the minaret and has, like the classic fourth, only one balcony. It should be noted that in terms of its general structure, the mosque is still standard.
The Uch-Sherefeli-Jami Mosque was badly damaged by a powerful earthquake in 1751. It was partially restored in 1763 and completely restored in 1930 and 1999. Uch-Sherefeli in Edirne became an example of a structure erected during the search for new forms of Ottoman architecture. It clearly demonstrates the transition from the Seljuk style of Konya and Bursa to the classic Ottoman style of Istanbul mosques.
