Nuruosmaniye Mosque

Near the Grand Bazaar, you’ll find the Nuruosmaniye Mosque. You’ll notice that it looks nothing like the other mosques you’ve seen so far – it’s built in the Ottoman Baroque style, the very first of its kind in Istanbul! Construction began in 1748, under Sultan Mahmud I, and was completed during the reign of his brother, Osman III. Hence the name Nuru-osman-iye. The suffix “iye” is a bit like the “s” apostrophe in English, to indicate ownership. Nuru means “sacred light”. So this is Osman’s mosque of light. The inscription under the dome also speaks of this divine light, meaning “God is the light of the heavens and the earth”. The mosque is part of a complex that features a garden, mausoleums, a school and a kitchen that feeds the poor. It is open to visitors every day outside prayer times.