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The Rüstem Pasha Mosque, designed by Mimar Sinan and completed around 1563, is an Ottoman mosque in Istanbul’s Tahtakale neighborhood near the Spice Bazaar. Commissioned by Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha, the mosque is renowned for its extensive İznik tilework, covering nearly every interior surface.
Built atop a vaulted marketplace, the mosque is elevated, featuring a courtyard accessed by narrow staircases. Its octagonal design, with a central dome supported by semi-domes, distinguishes it architecturally. Unlike Sinan’s typically restrained interiors, this mosque boasts around 2,300 İznik tiles in diverse floral and geometric patterns, showcasing early use of Armenian bole red pigment.
The mihrab and qibla wall incorporate both tiles and experimental painting styles, contributing to the mosque’s distinctive aesthetic. Restored in 2021, it remains a striking example of Ottoman artistry.
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.