Murat Pasha Mosque, Istanbul

Murat Pasha Camii is the second-oldest of Istanbul's veziral mosques, on the Seventh Hill's eastern slope in the Lycus valley; it was built by Hass Murat Pasha — of the Byzantine imperial Palaeologues, a convert who became a vezir and favourite of the Conqueror — and an intricate Arabic inscription over the door dates it 1469 ¹.

Smaller and less elaborate than Mahmut Pasha Camii, it resembles it in general plan: a long rectangular prayer-hall divided by an arch into two domed squares, with two small side chambers on each side serving as hostels for itinerant dervishes ². Its five domed porch bays rest on six handsome ancient columns — two of Synetic marble, four of verd antique — and the walls alternate brick and stone ³. Hass Murat Pasha died in battle in 1473 on campaign against Uzun Hasan of the White Sheep Turcomans; the külliye's medrese and large double hamam perished when the adjacent avenues were widened ².

• Source read: Freely, A History of Ottoman Architecture (2011), pp. 142–143 (Murat Pasha Camii).
• Record created in this batch.