The Muradiye Complex built in 1426 was commissioned by Sultan Murad II and is the last of several built by Ottoman Sultans in Bursa. It originally included a mosque, madrasah (school), Turkish bath, public kitchen and the Sultan's tomb.
Muradiye Mosque exterior
The decoration on the roof of the entrance was beautiful.
Inside and this was the first Prayer Hall we've seen on a stage.
In the centre is the mihrab - the architectural and symbolic focal point of religious buildings, a niche in the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca.
A few other wall details.
There are thirteen tombs within Muradiye (Murad II) Complex where wives, sons, daughters, next of kins of Sultan and various courtiers who served the Ottomans are buried. The fact that they decided to bury their closest relatives here is an indication of the spiritual importance of Bursa, even after the transfer of the capital to Istanbul in 1453. We only visited a few of the tombs so I hope I've correctly identified which ones my photos are of.
The beautiful ceiling decoration under the eaves at the entrance to Murad II's tomb.
I don't appear to have taken a general shot of the inside so here's one I nicked from Nick Pangere and nomadicniko.com.
The mihrab.
An annex connected to the east wall of Murad II tomb contains 4 burials including his son Şehzade (Prince) Alaaddin.
The tomb of Şehzade Mustafa (son of Suleiman the Magnificent) which was built in 1573 by his brother 20 years after his death by strangulation on his father's orders. One of the other sarcophagi belongs to Mustafa's mother.
Some building materials from the Byzantine period, such as marble slabs and columns taken from Bursa Palace, were used in the construction of the building. The interior walls are covered with naturalistic style Iznik tiles of the 16th century, and the hand-carved decorations are noteworthy. The original hand-drawn works from the 16th century, which were plastered and covered with Baroque decorations in the late 19th century, were revived by plaster rasping during the 2013 restoration.
We saw quite a few ceilings with similarly odd decorations - remind me of Trivial Pursuit counters - so far I haven't been able to found out their significance.
Next was Cem Sultan Tomb which was originally built for another Şehzade Mustafa, this one was the son of Mehmet the Conqueror, but his other son Cem Sultan was buried there in 1499 and the tomb took his name.
This is the most richly decorated tomb in the complex; the walls are covered in turquoise and blue tiles for the first 2.35m and thereafter with beautiful 16th century hand drawn motifs. Like other tombs they were plastered over in the 19th century and only rediscovered during the 2013 restoration.
The tomb of Şehzade Ahmed.
Detail of the decoration above the mihrab.
Cloaks for those unsuitably dressed.
I think this is a verse from the Koran.
I then had a wander around outside on my own and found loads and loads of headstones.
I really feel Göksel should have shown these to the group as I think they'd have been interested.
Especially as there was a board detailing what the various designs signified about a person's social status and identity,
