Yıldırım Mosque
Yıldırım Mosque
This mosque, which is the central structure of the “Yıldırım Kulliye” complex, was built between 1390 and 1395 by Sultan Bayezid I, known under the by-name “Yıldırım”, or “Thunderbolt”. It is situated on the highest place within the “kulliye” complex, consisting of a madrasah, a soup kitchen, a hamam, or public bath, a mausoleum, and a hospital. It is situated on a sloping area.
This mosque is one of those structures built with a “⊥” plan (with lodging rooms for travellers, and a hermitage). Its feet at the portico for latecomers with its five sections and the interconnecting “Bursa” arches are masoned using marble-like hewn stones. This type of arch appears for the first time with this mosque. It has become part of literature on Ottoman architecture where it is described as “Bursa” arch.
When the visitor accesses this mosque, which is built with a symmetric plan, passing through the domed portico for latecomers, there are restrooms at its right- and left-hand side. From here, the visitor enters the main prayer hall, which is covered with two large domes in the structure’s north-south direction. There are glazed tile and stalactite work decorations in different sections of this structure. In the rooms situated at the mosque’s southeast and southwest, there are walls made of plaster with fireplaces in them. These are decorated with geometric motifs.
The original minarets of this mosque collapsed in the 1855 earthquake. In 1963, one minaret was built aside the building. In 2011, however, the collapsed minarets were rebuilt by Bursa Metropolitan Municipality in accordance with the original plans.
