Ortaköy Mosque is a beautiful mosque in the amazing and beautiful city of of Turkey - Istanbul. It should be clarified that officially the mosque is called the Great Medjidiye Mosque (Buyuk Mecidiye Camii).
It is located in the Ortaköy neighbourhood in the new part of the city near the Bosphorus Bridge. The mosque was built between 1853 and 1854 in the Ottoman Baroque style. Mosque, built by order of Padishah Abdul-Mejid in the middle of the 19th century, living in the palace of Beylerbeyi on the opposite bank, to perform namaz would take paddleboats to the Ortaköy Mosque. Due to its Its location right on the shore of the Bosphorus and the elegance of the structure is one of the best examples of late Ottoman architecture.
In 1853, Sultan Abdul-Mejid I commissioned the construction of the mosque to a noble architect, Nigoghos Bertaköy, the architect of Dolmabahçe Palace, who erected it in the shortest possible time. The mosque was built in the Ottoman Baroque style. It was completed completed in 1854. It has two minarets adjoining it, consisting of white stone slabs. It should be noted that each of the minarets has its own balcony, which locals refer to as a cherefe.
The Ortaköy Mosque consists of two parts, like all mosques that were built during the era of Abdul-Mejid I. These are the harem and the personal quarters of the sultan's "hunkar". The walls and the interior of this single-domed mosque are decorated with beautifully coloured mosaics. Quite wide and high windows well let through the sunlight, reflecting the waters of the Bosphorus, which shimmer with all the colours of the rainbow. The prayer niche, complemented by mosaics, is made of marble, and the marble of the pulpit is in turn covered with porphyry.
The mosque stands on a promontory, which the Byzantines called Kleidon, which translates as "Key" to the Bosphorus. Another small square is found behind the mosque. It offers a splendid 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 1,560 metres, the height above the water is 64 metres, the distance between the supports is 1,074 metres and the height of the piers is 165 metres).
Ortaköy Square, like many public places in Istanbul, is very fond of to feed pigeons, which fly here in large numbers. Another local highlight in Ortaköy is the special dish, Kumpir, which can be tried here. The essence of its preparation is very simple: in a huge boiled potato the core is removed and filled with all sorts of fillings. You can buy it at local market stalls. Behind the mosque in Ortaköy stretches a whole street, made up of stalls like this.
Ortaköy Mosque is one of the main attractions in Turkey today.
