Çamlıca Mosque

The current largest mosque in Turkey, Çamlıca Mosque was completed and opened on 7 March 2019.[2] The official inauguration of the mosque was on 3 May 2019 by the current President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[2] The president inaugurated the Çamlıca Mosque with a speech condemning terrorist attacks, stating that the people behind these deadly attacks were “common enemies of all humanity.” [4] While cutting the ribbon to mark the official opening of the mosque, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that the terrorist attackers shared “a dark mentality.” [4] Several world leaders were present at the ceremony including Senegalese President Macky Sall, Guinean President Alpha Conde, Albanian president Ilir Meta, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and other foreign dignitaries.[5]

The Çamlıca Mosque was one of the several megaprojects such as the Canal Istanbul[6] by the current Turkish government of the AK Party in an attempt to strengthen the economy.[7] The megaprojects plan by the AK Party of Turkey sparked controversy and political turmoil about the management of a faltering economy.[8] Others believe the project is visionary and will boost the country's touristic economy and infrastructure investments.[8] The megaprojects plan on the canal has also sparked environmental controversy where environmentalists have warned that the infrastructures could damage the canal ecosystem, making it uninhabitable.[8] On another end, supporters are raving about the way the project is generating growth in the economy where the president replied with the statement, "We invested billions in Istanbul, and now they say we robbed the country?", accusing opponents of the AK Party of peddling lies and sparking controversy.[8]

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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Main entrance courtyard
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque West side
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Panorama
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque General view
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque interior with main dome in centre
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Mihrab
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Lamp
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Window
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Window
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Tiles panel
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Courtyard
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque Decoration in courtyard
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  Istanbul Big Çamlıca Mosque View from north side of platform

The architectural design planning of Çamlıca Mosque began in the year 2000 and was led by two female architects, Hayriye Gül Totu and Bahar Mızrak. The female architects designed the mosque to hold 63,000 people with special consideration for women as there is a separate area for women to pray and also a childcare space. The design of Çamlıca Mosque was inspired by the combination of Ottoman Islamic architecture. The design of the architecture considered the possibility of an earthquake.[2] The designers of the project took into account the standards of what is ‘earthquake safe’ for the city of Istanbul and this was the reason that the mosque is able to accommodate 100,000 people in case of an earthquake.[2]

Bellaigue describes the exterior of Çamlıca Mosque as “a huge box attached to a colonnaded courtyard; on top of the box, domes and half-domes swarm around a squat central dome surmounted by a golden, crescent-shaped finial." The design of the exterior was heavily inspired by the chief builder of the Ottoman classical age, architect Mimar Sinan. Sinan's Ottoman designs had influence on the exterior design plan of the mosque where, “its use of concrete has relegated Sinan’s structural devices – the dome-clusters, for example, that he used to diffuse the downward thrust of the main dome – to mere ornament.” The mosque is located on Çamlıca Hill and stares out to one of Sinan's creation, the Suleymaniye Mosque. The mosque is situated to rival the Suleymaniye Mosque, which was designed and built by the famous Mimar Sinan to be facing the hill on the European bank of the Bosphorus in Istanbul.[9] At 72 metres in height, the main dome of Çamlıca Mosque symbolises the 72 nations residing in Istanbul, Turkey and the dome spanning 34 metres represents the city of Istanbul (34 is the city's car plate number).[2][10] The measurements of the main dome are 3.12 metre's wide, 7.77 metres in height and weighs 4.5 tons.[2] The mosque features some of the largest gates inside a place of worship in the world where the main gate is 5 metres in length, 6.5 metres in height and weighs 6 tons.[2] The finial was coloured using nanotechnology and comprises three parts.[2] The finial of the Çamlıca Mosque is worldwide the largest.[2]

Çamlıca Mosque entrance hall

Çamlıca Mosque features a museum, underground parking space, an art gallery, library, conference hall, and a childcare.[4] The art gallery is of 3,500 square metres and the library is that of 3,000 square metres in space.[2] The conference hall is able to seat up to 1,071 people and the mosque features eight art workshops as well as an indoor parking lot to hold up to 3,500 vehicles.[2] The interior of Çamlıca Mosque was designed with a more minimalist architectural approach.[11] The intention of the two female designers was to make people feel more spiritual within the space, they stated that the use of “light, colour, glass, ornamentation and calligraphy” was done so with this in mind.[11]

Two out of the six minarets of Çamlıca Mosque which stand at 107.1m high. Photo taken by a tourist at ground level

Çamlıca Mosque has six minarets which represent the six articles of Islamic faith (iman).[12] Four of the six minarets feature three balconies that stand 107.1 metres high which is dedicated to the Turk's Victory of Manzikert in 1071.[2] The other two minarets feature two balconies and stand at 90 metres in height.[2] The 72 metre main dome represents the 72 nations who reside in the city of Istanbul, the minarets are centred around the dome with the four minarets on even ends and the other two on the outer ends of the mosque.[2]

The architectural design planning of Çamlıca Mosque was led by two female architects, Bahar Mızrak and Hayriye Gül Totu. The architects planned to create a ‘female-friendly’ mosque that uses positive affirmation for women.[13] The planning of the mosque incorporated a separate space for women to perform ablutions before prayer, a separate elevator to the prayer spaces and a childcare.[13] The separate prayer space for women is located in the central hall of the mosque and holds up to 600 people.[13] The childcare for children has a playground area and a car park.[13] The architects stated that they wanted to change the tradition of more men going to mosques than females by designing Çamlıca Mosque to be ‘female-friendly'.[13]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Çamlıca Mosque.

The first notable funeral with crowds at the mosque was held for Kadir Mısıroğlu on 6 May 2019.[14]

• Islam in Turkey
• Çamlıca Hill
• Ottoman architecture
• List of mosques in Istanbul
• List of mosques in Turkey
• List of largest mosques
• List of tallest domes
• Sultan Ahmed Mosque
• Hagia Sophia