Intern’s corner

THE RÜSTEM PAŞA MOSQUE IN ISTANBUL

Much like Istanbul, caught between the currents of East and West, the Rüstem Paşa Mosque also occupies a liminal space. It is a transitional ground between the private and the public. Floating above the chaotic streets that surround it, the structure allows the visitor to peer down on the quotidian life temporarily left behind while drawing closer to one less fleeting.

Istanbul has witnessed the rise and fall of empires. Once capital to both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, it continues today to be caught between East and West. Acting as a bridge between Asia and Europe, it became a crucial cosmopolitan center.

The reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent brought the Ottoman Empire into what was almost immediately recognized as its Classical Age. The Grand Vizier, Rüstem Paşa, a Bosnian by birth, was married to the sultan’s only daughter, Mihrimah Sultan. If at the time he was considered cunning by both foreign diplomats and the local population, he is today chiefly remembered for his architectural patronage. Both he and his wife commissioned several buildings, hiring the court’s Chief Architect, Sinan, to design them. Their best known monument is unquestionably the Rüstem Paşa Mosque. Because Rüstem Paşa died in 1561, the year the mosque was built, he did not live to see it completed. Some believe, however, because of the coinciding dates, that the monument constitutes in fact a commemorative building commissioned by his widow in his memory and was therefore probably finished later than 1561.

The rest of the article you can read in the magazine.