The Hejaz railway was a narrow-gauge railway that ran from Damascus to Medina, through the Hejaz region of modern day Saudi Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea.
A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (adhan) from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can have a variety of forms, from thick, squat towers to soaring, pencil-thin spires.
The Süleymaniye Mosque is an Ottoman imperial mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the imperial architect Mimar Sinan. An inscription specifies the foundation date as 1550 and the inauguration date as 1557, although work on the complex probably continued for a few years after this.
Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the Ottoman Empire over a long period, undergoing some significant changes during its history. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century and developed from earlier Seljuk Turkish architecture, with influences from Byzantine and Iranian architecture along with other architectural traditions in the Middle East. Early Ottoman architecture experimented with multiple building types over the course of the 13th to 15th centuries, progressively evolving into the classical Ottoman style of the 16th and 17th centuries. This style was a mixture of native Turkish tradition and influences from the Hagia Sophia, resulting in monumental mosque buildings focused around a high central dome with a varying number of semi-domes. The most important architect of the classical period is Mimar Sinan, whose major works include the Şehzade Mosque, Süleymaniye Mosque, and Selimiye Mosque. The second half of the 16th century also saw the apogee of certain decorative arts, most notably in the use of Iznik tiles.
Yıldız Palace is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman pavilions and villas in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the sultan and his court in the late 19th century.
Martyrs' Day is a Syrian and Lebanese national holiday commemorating the Syrian and Lebanese Muslim-Christian Arab nationalists executed in Damascus and Beirut on 6 May 1916 by Jamal Pasha, also known as 'Al Jazzar' or 'The Butcher', the Ottoman wāli of Greater Syria. They were executed in both the Marjeh Square in Damascus and Burj Square in Beirut. Both plazas have since been renamed Martyrs' Square.
Marjeh Square, also known as "Martyrs' Square", is a square in central Damascus, Syria, just outside the walls of the old city. The Syrian Interior Ministry has its headquarters in the square.
The Sulaymaniyya Takiyya is a takiyya in Damascus, Syria, located on the right bank of the Barada River. Commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the western building of the complex was built, following the plans of Mimar Sinan, between 1554 and 1559. Another building was added eastwards from it in 1566 to be used as a madrasa.
The Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque, also called the Yıldız Mosque, is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in Yıldız neighbourhood of Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey, on the way to Yıldız Palace. The mosque was commissioned by the Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II, and constructed between 1884 and 1886. The mosque was built on a rectangular plan and has one minaret. The architecture of the mosque is a combination of Neo-Gothic style and classical Ottoman motifs. A bronze colonnade erected by Abdul Hamid II in Marjeh Square of Damascus, Syria bears a replica statue of the Yıldız Mosque on top.
The Grand Mosque of Bursa is a historic mosque in Bursa, Turkey. It was commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I to commemorate his great victory at the Battle of Nicopolis and built between 1396 and 1399. The mosque is a major monument of early Ottoman architecture and one of the most important mosques in the city, located in the heart of the old city alongside its historic markets.
Hejaz railway station is a former main railway station in central Damascus, Syria, close to the Marjeh Square. It was built as part of the Hejaz railway project.
The Aviation Martyrs' Monument, located in Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey, is a memorial dedicated to the first soldiers of the Ottoman Airforce to be killed in flight accidents. In Turkey, one use of the term "martyr" is as an honorific for people killed in action during war.
The Great Mosque of Diyarbakır was built in the late 11th century by the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I over an older mosque. According to some, it is the fifth holiest site in Islam after the Great Mosque of Damascus, which influenced its design. It can accommodate up to 5,000 worshippers and hosts four different Islamic traditions.
Al-Hijaz is a neighborhood and district of the Qanawat municipality of Damascus, Syria. It had a population of 5,572 in the 2004 census. The neighborhood was founded during the early 20th century, during the last years of Ottoman rule in Syria. It was built around the Hijaz Railway station in the city, which was founded in 1913. Between 1914 and 1916, the Ottoman governor of Damascus, Jamal Pasha, commissioned the construction of Shari'a an-Naser in the neighborhood, which ran from the railway station to the Souq al-Hamidiyya bazaar, parallel to Marjeh Square and the Barada River. Several mosques and residences were demolished to make way for the monumental road.
Al-Ukhaydir, also known as Haydar or Aqabat, is a site in the Tabuk Province in Saudi Arabia, located southeast of Tabuk. During early Ottoman rule, a fort, Qal'at al-Akhdar, was built at the site, part of the larger network of fortifications along the Hajj caravan route to Medina and Mecca.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Istanbul:
The Jezreel Valley Railway monument, located in Haifa, Israel, is a commemorative monument celebrating the opening of the Jezreel Valley Railway by the Ottoman Empire in 1905. It was designed in Istanbul and transported by sea to Haifa for the official opening of the railway.
Classical Ottoman architecture is a period in Ottoman architecture generally including the 16th and 17th centuries. The period is most strongly associated with the works of Mimar Sinan, who was Chief Court Architect under three sultans between 1538 and 1588. The start of the period also coincided with the long reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, which is recognized as the apogee of Ottoman political and cultural development, with extensive patronage in art and architecture by the sultan, his family, and his high-ranking officials.
Ottoman Baroque architecture, also known as Turkish Baroque, was a period in Ottoman architecture in the 18th century and early 19th century which was influenced by European Baroque architecture. Preceded by the changes of the Tulip Period and Tulip Period architecture, the style marked a significant departure from the classical style of Ottoman architecture and introduced new decorative forms to mostly traditional Ottoman building types. It emerged in the 1740s during the reign of Mahmud I (1730–1754) and its most important early monument was the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, completed in 1755. Later in the 18th century, new building types were also introduced based on European influences. The last fully Baroque monuments, such as the Nusretiye Mosque, were built by Mahmud II in the early 19th century, but during this period new European-influenced styles were introduced and supplanted the Baroque.
This article covers the history of Ottoman architecture from the 19th century up to the end of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. The 19th century saw architectural influences from Western Europe increase. The Ottoman Baroque style, which emerged in the 18th century, continued to be evident in the early 19th century under the reigns of Selim III and Mahmud II. Empire style and Neoclassical motifs also began to be introduced around this time. Subsequently, a trend towards eclecticism became prominent in many types of buildings, particularly during the Tanzimat period, as exemplified by the Dolmabaçe Palace and other mosques of this era designed by architects of the Balyan family.
