Sinan Pasha Mosque

Sinan Paşa Camii is a mosque located at the intersection of Barbaros Boulevard and Beşiktaş Street in the Beşiktaş district of İstanbul, designed by Mimar Sinan and completed in 1555. The mosque was commissioned by Kaptan-ı Derya Sinan Paşa, but construction was temporarily halted following his death in 1553 and was completed after his passing. The structure was built as part of the Sinan Paşa Külliyesi.

Sinan Paşa Camii Exterior View (İBB)

Architectural Features

Sinan Paşa Camii is a repetition of the plan of the Üç Şerefeli Camii in Edirne, differing only in dimensions and proportions. The mosque reflects Mimar Sinan’s effort to reinterpret earlier models, but due to the death of its patron, it remains simpler in design compared to other contemporary structures of the period.

The exterior walls are constructed in a checkerboard pattern of one course of cut stone and three courses of brick. Above the simple entrance is an inscription in sülüs script detailing its construction. The final prayer hall is arranged with five bays, covered by a large deep mirrored vault in the center and two domes on each side. According to Hammer, this section was added to the harim in 1749.^【1】 During this addition, the northern wall of the mosque was demolished, leaving large supporting piers, and the arched openings in the final prayer hall were sealed. In front of this, a second final prayer hall is covered by a sloping roof.

The rectangular harim, oriented transversely, is covered by a dome measuring 12.60 meters in width. The dome rests on eight piers, with transitions achieved through pendentives. Two of the piers are hexagonal and freestanding to the east and west, while the other four are embedded into the north and south walls. The lateral spaces are covered by two domes each, and small domes are placed in the triangular sections between these domes and the central dome.

Minbar and Mosque Decorations (İBB)

The window arrangement follows that of the Üç Şerefeli Camii, but the smaller dimensions of the openings have resulted in a brighter interior. There are twelve windows in the dome drum, thirteen in the qibla wall (four of which are circular), ten on each side wall, and nine on the entrance side.

The mihrab is hexagonal and made of marble, with a muqarnas canopy above and medallions below; calligraphic decorations in later styles were added to its sides. The minbar is made of plain marble with geometric ornamentation. A marble base was later added beneath the wooden pulpit. Access to the single-tiered lead-covered minaret is from within. The balcony railings are decorated with muqarnas and relief work.

The courtyard has two entrances and contains a graceful şadırvan in the center, built from a single block of white marble and supported by four columns. The water basin of the şadırvan bears an inscription by Reîsülküttâb Mehmed Sıhhî Efendi on all four sides, which also records the completion date of the külliye as 1555–56 (H. 963).

Interior Space and Chandelier Detail (İBB)

Other Structures of the Külliye

The Sinan Paşa Külliye originally consisted of a mosque, medrese, mektep, and double hamam. However, only the mosque and medrese have survived to the present day.

Medrese: Mimar Sinan, for the first time in this mosque, placed the medrese rooms behind the courtyard arcades. The medrese, with twelve rooms, has undergone various repairs over the centuries; the arcade layout has been altered, and the fronts of the rooms have been closed with metal frames, causing it to lose its original appearance. It is covered by a tile-roofed structure.

Mektep: According to Hadîkatü’l-cevâmi‘, the mektep located in the mosque’s courtyard was built by Kösem Sultan in 1641–42. Since it was not possible for the mektep to be situated within the inner courtyard, it is believed that the mosque had an additional outer courtyard.

Hamam: The hamam was constructed far from the other structures of the külliye, at the junction of Beşiktaş Street and Hayreddin İskelesi Street. It was built beside a bridge crossing under the Beşiktaş stream and was therefore also known as the Köprü Hamamı. The structure, designed as a double hamam, had separate sections for men in the north and women in the south. The hamam closely resembles in size and plan the Yâkub Ağa Hamamı that Sinan built in Samatya in 1547. It was demolished in 1957 during the widening of the Tophane–Beşiktaş road.

Hazîre and Türbe: A hazîre formed over time to the west of the mosque. To the east of the külliye stands the Türbe of Şeyh Neccârzâde Mustafa Rızâ Efendi. The türbe that Sinan Paşa had wished to be built beside the mosque for his own burial was never constructed; he was instead interred in the hazîre of Mihrimah Sultan Camii in Üsküdar.

Historical Development and Restorations

The külliye has undergone numerous restorations and modifications throughout its history. Significant interventions include the addition of the final prayer hall in 1749, alterations to the northern entrance carried out by the Vakıflar İdaresi in 1936–37, and the demolition of the adjacent meşrutan next to the qibla wall. Between 1972 and 1974, restoration work was conducted on the courtyard and medrese rooms, during which the 19th-century eclectic decorative elements of the mosque were replaced with classical-style ornamentation.

Urban planning changes in the 1960s, including the creation of Barbaros Meydanı, the widening of Tanrıverdi Caddesi, and the opening of Barbaros Bulvarı, resulted in the loss of some structures belonging to the külliye.

Other Structures Commissioned by the Patron

It is known that Sinan Paşa commissioned another mosque in Beşiktaş, but this structure has not survived. Additionally, within the city walls, he had two other mosques: one in Fatih (destroyed in the 1918 fire, its minaret visible in engravings) and another in Ayakapı (converted from a Byzantine chapel, known as the Kızıl Mescid).