Nuruosmaniye Mosque

The Nuruosmaniye Mosque sits in the Fatih district with an unusual, horseshoe-shaped courtyard and a dome that lacks the typical surrounding half-domes found in classical Ottoman architecture. Sultan Osman the Third commissioned this building in seventeen forty-eight to reflect the changing tastes of the eighteenth century. It was the first mosque in the city to fully embrace the Baroque style. Architects Mustafa Aga and Simon Kalfa crafted curved lines and intricate stonework that broke away from the traditional, rigid imperial geometry.