Ortaköy Mosque

The mosque was built in 1853 on the instructions of Sultan Abdul-Majid I (Abdülmecid) according to the design of architect Nigogos Balyan, the Armenian Balyan dynasty performed many works commissioned by the Ottoman sultans in the 18th and 19th centuries, largely shaping the appearance of Constantinople. Their creations include such masterpieces as the Sarayburnu and Dolmabachhe palaces. The great Sultan Mosque of Medjidiye (Büyük Mecidiye Camii) is built of white hewn stone and decorated in the Baroque style. The structure turned out to be very beautiful, forming one of the most recognizable views of Istanbul, but at the same time very fragile, and in this regard has undergone several large-scale repairs. The first one was required already in 1862, then in 1869, the building was severely damaged during the earthquake of 1894 and was fully restored only in 1909. At the same time, the old minarets were completely dismantled and new, more stable, but simple in design, were erected. In 1960, cracks began to appear in the walls of the mosque, which required strengthening of the foundation and soil, as well as modernization of the dome, these works took about 10 years, the mosque was reopened in 1969. The next major trouble occurred in 1984, when a fire broke out in the mosque. In 2011, the mosque was closed for restoration and was opened on June 6, 2014, the first solemn prayer was attended by the Prime Minister (now the president) Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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