The Grand Çamlıca Mosque (Pronounced: Chamlija; Turkish: Büyük Çamlıca Camii), Turkey’s largest and most impressive mosque, is the product of the Turkish government’s desire to show off the country’s economic strength. It is an Islamic worship center that was completed and opened in March of 2019. The most modern complex of its kind in Turkey, with its art gallery, library, conference hall, art studio, and Museum of Islamic Culture set to open later, as well as a peaceful place for worship, Çamlıca Mosque evokes the atmosphere of mosques commissioned by the Ottoman Empire. The mosque cost US$110 million (approximately 550 million Turkish Lira) and was part of the Turkish government’s megaproject program.
The fine details of the amlca Mosque attract interest, but it also has some special features. Bahar Mzrak and Hayriye Gül Totu, two female architects, led the architectural design planning of the amlca Mosque, which began in the year 2000. The mosque’s design was influenced by Ottoman architecture and Mimar Sinan’s works. The mosque has six minarets, which reflect the Islamic faith’s six pillars. Four of these minarets, each with three balconies, stand 107.1 meters tall and are dedicated to the Triumph of Manzikert, while the other two minarets stand 90 meters tall and have two balconies.
This new icon, a futuristic structure with interior spaces built to meet different needs, contains not only an area devoted solely to worship and prayer, but also an art gallery, a library, a conference room, an art studio, and the Museum of Islamic Civilisation, which houses artefacts from Turkish Islamic culture. The new Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, officially inaugurated the mosque on May 3rd, 2019. This practice is expressed in the structure’s architecture, which is reminiscent of mosques constructed in the Ottoman and Seljuk architectural styles.
The mosque’s main dome, which stands 72 meters tall, reflects the 72 nations that call Istanbul home, while the mosque’s 34-meter dome represents Istanbul itself. A 3.12-meter-wide and 7.77-meter-high finial weighing 4.5 tons adorns the mosque’s main dome. Hayriye Gül Totu and Bahar Mzrak, two female architects, led the architectural design planning of Grand Amlca Mosque, which began in the year 2000. The mosque was designed by female architects to accommodate 63,000 people, with special consideration for women, including a separate area for women to pray as well as a childcare area.
The largest mosque in Turkey, it was President Erdoan’s pet project and can be seen for miles (including from ferries making their way up the Bosphorus). The combination of Ottoman and Islamic architecture influenced the design of the amlca Mosque. The design was designed with the likelihood of an earthquake in mind. The main building in these mosques has a Greek cross floor plan with a square in front of it. The project’s planners took into account Istanbul’s earthquake requirements, which is why the mosque will accommodate 100,000 people in the event of an earthquake.
The main gate of the Grand Amlca Mosque is 5 meters long, 6.5 meters high, and weights 6 tons, making it one of the world’s largest mosque gates. The exterior design was heavily influenced by architect Mimar Sinan, the chief builder of the Ottoman classical era. The Suleymaniye Mosque, one of Sinan’s inventions, is visible from the mosque, which is situated on Amlca Hill. The mosque, which is visible from all parts of the city, is rich in features that draw tourists’ attention as they approach it from afar: the six imposing minarets that mark the building’s perimeter reflect the Islamic faith’s six pillars.
The main dome of the amlca Mosque stands 72 meters tall and represents the 72 nations served in Istanbul, Turkey, while the dome spanning 34 meters represents Istanbul (34 is the city’s license plate number). The main dome is 3.12 meters in diameter, 7.77 meters in height, and weights 4.5 tons. The Çamlıca Mosque features a 3,500-square-meter art gallery, a 3,000-square-meter library, a 1,071-seat conference hall, eight art studios, and a 3,500-car indoor parking lot. The mosque has been described as “a classic project that uses modern tools” and cutting-edge techniques in its construction, and it is designed to the highest standards, making it “one of the world’s most earthquake-resistant buildings.”
Çamlıca Mosque’s interior was built with a more minimalist architectural approach. The two female designers’ aim was to make people feel more spiritual in the room, and they claimed that they used “light, color, glass, ornamentation, and calligraphy” to achieve this. The L&L Luce&Light outdoor lighting systems selected by Lighting Planner Utku Baksir make the Grand Çamlıca Mosque exceptional, not just in terms of structural protection but also in terms of aesthetics.
Indicating that the Çamlıca Mosque was built not only as a mosque but also as a modern-day complex and a typical Islamic Ottoman social complex. The main dome, which stands 72 meters tall, reflects the 72 nations that call Istanbul home. The minarets are arranged around the dome, with four on even ends and two on the mosque’s outer ends. Various Siri projectors, with adjusted points and hostile to glare recessed optics, have been utilized to light the trees in the garden to one side of the mosque, offering volume to the green foliage: a moving impact, in ideal beneficial interaction with the environment of the place.
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