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Mahmut Pasha Mosque was commissioned by the Greek Mahmud Pasha, the grand vizier of Sultan Mehmet II, who converted to Islam. Completed in 1464, it was one of the first buildings within the city walls built specifically as a mosque. After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, most of the early mosques in the city were converted Byzantine churches.
The waqf (endowment) of the mosque and its associated charitable buildings was quite extensive, covering a number of different buildings across the surrounding district. This suggests that Mehmet II may have entrusted Mahmud Pasha with developing this district near the commercial heart of the city, just east and north of the area which would become the Grand Bazaar. The mosque was thus the centrepiece of this development.
The mosque is designed in the Bursa style with the main space covered by a number of identical domes. This is an early Ottoman style which was soon abandoned in favour of a single large dome with smaller extensions. In this case, the main space is a 2x1 rectangle covered with two identical domes, each with a diameter of 12.5 metres. The mihrab and minbar are located on the short side of the rectangle. The areas on either side are each covered by a simple sloping roof.
The entrance to the mosque is similar to that of a Byzantine church, with an outer porch (exonarthex) and an inner porch (esonarthex), each covered by five small domes. The columns holding up the outer porch were originally marble but were replaced by the present stone ones in the 18th century after damage by an earthquake. The mahfil was added in the 19th century, and the mihrab and minbar replaced; as a result, they are in a different style to the rest of the mosque.
The octagonal mausoleum (türbe) of Mahmud Paşa in the grounds of the mosque is dated AH 878 (1473-74 CE) on an inscription at the entrance. Its exterior is decorated with tiles forming geometric patterns in turquoise and indigo colours, a feature which is unique in Ottoman architecture in Istanbul.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.