Yeşil Mosque

Yeşil Mosque
Richly decorated Iwan
Basic information
Location	Bursa, Turkey
Geographic coordinates	40°11′02″N 29°03′43″E / 40.183841°N 29.061960°E / 40.183841; 29.061960
Affiliation	Islam
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Hacı İvaz Pasha
Architectural type	Mosque
Architectural style	Islamic, Ottoman architecture
Groundbreaking	1419
Completed	1421
Minaret(s)	2

Green Mosque (Turkish: Yeşil Cami, "Yeşil Mosque"), also known as Mosque of Mehmed I, is a part of the larger complex (a külliye) located on the east side of Bursa, Turkey, the former capital of the Ottoman Turks before they captured Constantinople in 1453. The complex consists of a mosque, türbe, madrasah, kitchen and bath.

The Yeşil Mosque can be shown as the perfect blend between architecture and embellishment, the proof that such works of art were produced in a country where the battles between siblings had come to an end and peace had returned. It was commissioned by Sultan Mehmed I Çelebi and completed in December 1419 or January 1420. The mosque was built between 1419–1421 by architect vezir Hacı İvaz Pasha. The artists of painted decorations were Ali bin Ilyas and Mehmed el Mecnun. Following the earthquake in 1855, the building underwent an extensive renovation led by architect Léon Parvillée, as Ahmet Vefik Pasha, the Vali (governor) of Bursa, was unable to find a qualified Turkish architect. Parvillée managed to save the mosque but he lacked experience of the Seljukian and early Ottoman architecture. He was also hampered by shortages of money and skilled labour. The original decorations of the vaults and the walls were not restored. But his whitewash was perhaps to be preferred over botched attempts at reproducing old paintwork.

The architectural style known as Bursa Style begins with Green Mosque. The mosque is based on a reverse T-plan with a vestibule at the entrance leading to a central hall flanked by eyvans on the east and west and a larger eyvan with mihrab niche on the south. Two small eyvans flank the entryway above which the royal box (hünkar mahfili) is located. There are four rooms with fireplaces to the north and south of side eyvans accessed through the vestibule and the central hall respectively. Stairs on both sides of the vestibule lead to the upper floor where the royal lodge and two adjacent rooms for the royal women are located. Here, a passage opens to the balconies on the northern façade where the minaret steps begin. A portico was designed but never built, because, when the sultan died, work on his private mosque would stop.