Rüstem Pasha Mosque

The Rüstem Pasha Mosque is a small Ottoman mosque in the Tahtakale neighborhood of Istanbul's Fatih district, set in the Hasırcılar Çarşısı (Strawmat Weavers Market) near the Spice Bazaar. It was designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan for Rüstem Pasha, who served as Grand Vizier under Suleiman I and was the husband of Mihrimah Sultan, and it was completed in around 1563. The building is basically an octagon inscribed in a rectangle, with a main dome resting on four semi-domes placed on the diagonals, and it stands on a high terrace above a complex of vaulted shops whose rents were meant to support it. It is best known for its tilework: roughly 2300 Iznik tiles in about 80 floral and geometric patterns cover the porch facade, the mihrab, the minbar and the walls, making it unusual among Sinan's mosques, which usually kept interiors sparse. Dating it exactly is hard because no foundation inscription survives; recent study of primary sources puts construction between 1561 and 1563. The mosque reopened for worship in 2021 after a long restoration.