Istanbul, Turkey
Coordinates: 41.034722, 29.070833
The largest mosque in Turkey, Çamlıca Mosque is a place of Islamic worship which was completed and opened in March of 2019.
The mosque is located in Üsküdar in Istanbul and showcases an art gallery, library, and a conference hall.
The cost of the mosque was 110 million USD (approx.550 million Turkish Lira), which was an investment into the megaproject plan by the Turkish government in an attempt to strengthen the economy.
The architectural design planning of Çamlıca Mosque began in the year 2000 and was led by two female architects, Bahar Mızrak and Hayriye Gül Totu.
The design of the mosque was inspired by Ottoman Islamic architecture and the works of Mimar Sinan.
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. 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).
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.
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.
Turkish President Erdoğan said at its inauguration : “When a horse dies it leaves behind its saddle, when a man dies he leaves behind his works. We will be remembered for this.”
Female friendly mosque
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 discrimination for women.
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.
The separate prayer space for women is located in the central hall of the mosque and holds up to 600 people. The childcare for children has a playground area and a car park. 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.
Know This
This mosque is visible from a great distance when standing on the other side of the golden horn. It is approx a 30-40 minute taxi ride from Sultanhamet but well worth it.
