Description of the attraction
Ortakoy Mosque is a wonderful mosque in the amazing and most beautiful city of Turkey - Istanbul. It is necessary to clarify that the official name of the mosque is the Big Mosque of Mecidiye Camii.
It is located in the Ortakoy district in the new part of the city next to the Bosphorus Bridge. The mosque was built in 1853-1854 in the Ottoman Baroque style. A mosque built by order of the padishah Abdul-Majid in the middle of the 19th century. The padishahs, living in the Beylerbeyi palace on the opposite bank, specially sailed on rowboats to the Ortakoy mosque to perform namaz. Due to its location right on the shores of the Bosphorus and the elegance of the structure, it is one of the best examples of late Ottoman architecture.
In 1853, Sultan Abdul-Majid I commissioned the construction of the mosque to the noble architect Nigogos Balyan, the author of the Dolmabahce Palace, who erected it in the shortest possible time. A mosque built in the Ottoman Baroque style. Its construction was completed in 1854. It has two minarets adjoining it, made of white stone slabs. It should be noted that each of the minarets has its own balcony, which the locals call sherefe.
The Ortakoy Mosque consists of two parts, like all the mosques that were built in the era of Abdul-Majid I. This is the harem and personal quarters of the Sultan "hunkar". The walls and interior of this one-domed mosque are decorated with beautiful multi-colored mosaics. Quite wide and high windows let in sunlight well, reflect the waters of the Bosphorus, which shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. The prayer niche, complemented by mosaics, is made of marble, and the marble of the pulpit, in turn, is covered with porphyry.
The mosque stands on a promontory, which the Byzantines called Claydon, which translates as "Key" (to the Bosphorus). Another small square is found behind the mosque. It offers a magnificent view of the famous Bosphorus Bridge, which is one of the most beautiful and longest suspension bridges in the world. The length of this bridge is 1560 m, the height above the water is 64 m, the distance between the supports is 1074 m, and the height of the supports is 165 m).
In Ortaköy Square, as in many public places in Istanbul, they love to feed pigeons, which flock here in large numbers. Another local highlight in Ortaköy is a special dish - Kumpir, which can be tasted here. The essence of its preparation is very simple: in a huge boiled potato, the core is chosen and filled with all kinds of fillings. You can buy it at local stalls. Behind the mosque in Ortakoy stretches a whole street, consisting of just such stalls.
Ortakoy Mosque is one of the main attractions of Turkey today.
