Atik Sinan

See also: Sinan (homonymy)

Sinan-i Atik or Atik Sinan , or Azadli Sinan , (death in 1471), Turkish architect of Byzantine origin (Greek-orthodoxe) of the 15th century, with the service of Mehmet II Fatih (Mehmet II the Conqueror).

Biography

One knows little the life of Atik Sinan , which one still calls Old the Sinan to distinguish it from Mimar Koca Sinan, celebrates it traditional architect of Soliman the Magnificent the, at the next century.

Two years hardly after the conquest of Constantinople by the Othoman , the Byzantine architect Atik Sinan is charged, in 1453 by the conqueror of the old Byzantine capital, to build, with Istanbul (Turkey), the new capital of its empire, a mosque with its glory; it will be the mosque of Mehmet Fatih ( Sultan Fatih Mehmet Camii ). Work will begin only ten years later and will last seven years, of 1463 and 1470.

This mosque was the first mosque “selatin” (plural of “sultan”) of Istanbul - one thus calls the mosques with several minarets only built by the sultans or their families - and the second built in the city after the conquest (the first having been that of Eyup ( Eyüp Sultan Camii ), whose sultan Mehmet II ordered construction, the shortly after the catch of the city, to shelter the remainders of a companion of the Prophète, died under the ramparts of Constantinople in 670).

It was built, on the fourth hill of the Constantinople old man, with the site of the ruins of the Église of the Apostles ( Hagion Apostolon ), in whom were buried the Byzantine emperors. The excavation work completed for the construction of the mosque reflects at the day the tombs of the emperors, who were transferred in the courses from the Palais from Topkapi, whose construction was completed in 1473, and is now in the archaeological Musée.

As Mehmet II wished to make its new capital a center of education which was to radiate in all the empire, a wide complex of buildings - the Külliye - was built around the mosque. This complex was the first built by the Turkish S on this scale in the city after the conquest. Among the additional buildings, one found a school Koranic ( mekteb ), sixteen theological schools ( medreses ) arranged in four rows of four, two in the North-East and two in the south-east of the zone of the mosque, which were the first Othoman institutions of education of Istanbul, a library, a hospital ( darüşşifa ), an old people's home, a caravanserai, soup kitchens ( imaret ) and baths ( hamam ). Of this considerable unit, only some remainders survived until today. Architecturalement, such a group of buildings of this type was to be well thought to be integrated harmoniously in the urban environment. One can say that Atik Sinan had reached that point successfully, but that was not sufficient to satisfy the pride of the sultan.

The realization of this mosque and its complex did not carry, indeed, happiness with its architect, since this one was, initially, amputee of the two hands, when the sultan realized that the dome of its mosque did not reach the size of that of Holy-Sophie, then carried out the following year.

A French traveller, visiting Istanbul around 1540, Nicolas de Nicolay, evokes the splendid appearance of the mosque of Mehmet II, that it is not possible any more for us to appreciate. The complex had to be restored first once by Bayezid II after the earthquake of 1509. It severely was then damaged at the time of a new earthquake in 1766, which caused the collapse of the mosque itself and some additional buildings. The original work of the Byzantine architect thus mainly disappeared. The plan of this first mosque is not absolutely certain, even if one can have an idea of what it could be starting from some sources, in particular illustrations of the time, which reached us. It would seem that it was covered with a vast central dome, with a half-dome above the wall in front of which was the mirhab and three small cupolas on the walls of soutainement. The two minarets, each one connected to a gallery, were preserved at the time of the restoration.

The building which one can see today and who bears the name of the Conqueror does not have thus great any more a deal to see with that which had caused the anger of the sultan. It was rebuilt of 1766 with 1771 at the request of the sultan Mustafa III (1757 - 1774), by the architect Mehmet Tahir Aga. This one did not carry out a restitution identical, but reinterpreted architecture in a style Othoman baroque, sails very about it at the 18th century, while preserving the same proportions. The new building seems to have lost much originality and architectural elegance of old, that of Atik Sinan , of which only were preserved the mirhab, the interior court with its principal door, its old columns supporting the arcades and its mosaic of tiles decorating the tympanum of the windows on the frontage of the principal door, and the two minarets.

In 1463, at the same time as it undertook the construction of the mosque of the sultan, Atik Sinan receives Mahmut Pasha, the Top dog of Mehmet II, the order to build for him a mosque and a complex also including/understanding large a Hammam ( Mahmut Paşa Hamami ), a school and a mausoleum. The Mosquée of Mahmut Pasha ( Mahmut Paşa Camii ) disappeared, but the hammam remains nowadays, transformed into clothes shop.

The first room of the Othoman hammam was presented with an immense cloakroom to cupola of which the height was perfectly useless but symbolized the power of the top dog. The room of rest and the bath remained completely normal proportions. Théophile Gautier, in her book “ Constantinople ” gives us a good description of this hammam, where it bathed. All the details of architecture are mentioned there, but he does not say anything on the heavy atmosphere and always ambiguity of the Turkish baths.