Around the Selimiye, a Museum, a Mosque Complex and Ottoman Markets

The museum stands on Kadirpaşa Mektep Street, about fifty metres from the eastern gate of the Selimiye. Before entering the building, look at the Ottoman gravestones displayed in the open area beside it. The turban and headdress shapes carved on their tops form a kind of language that tells the profession and rank of the people they commemorate; stopping in front of a few of them to compare their forms is a good way to begin the visit. The present building was designed by the architect İhsan Kıygı and opened on 13 June 1971 as the Archaeology and Ethnography Museum. Museum work in Edirne goes back much further, however. The city's first museum was founded in 1925 in the Darülhadis Madrasa of the Selimiye, and as the collection grew it spread into the other madrasas of the complex as well.

Inside, head first to the archaeology section, because the display unfolds in chronological order. The first cases hold teeth, jaws and vertebrae of elephant, rhinoceros and horse species found in and around Edirne. These fossils open a good window for imagining the landscape of Thrace long before people. Then move on to the finds from the Chalcolithic age and to the funerary stelae that depict the Thracian horseman. On the horseman stelae, notice the posture of the mounted figure and the depth of the relief; these are the strongest works introducing the pre Roman people of the region. A large part of the pieces on display come from excavations at the ancient city of Ainos, today's Enez, south of Edirne. Set aside some time for the figured amphorae, the terracotta figurines and the small pieces of jewellery. The coin collection is also among the sections specially mentioned by the Kültür Portalı.

After the archaeology halls, move on to the ethnography section. Regional costumes typical of the Balkans, examples of calligraphy, carpets and kilims are displayed here. The most visited corners of the section are the settings that recreate the bridal room and the sitting room of an Edirne house. Looking at the wooden cupboards, the floor cushions and the colours of the textiles, you can picture everyday life in the old town houses. Some personal belongings used by Atatürk during his visit to Edirne are also kept in this section.

If you want to take photographs, avoid using a flash, and bring the lens close to the glass to avoid reflections on the display cases. An hour is enough to see both sections without rushing. Check the opening days, hours and entry conditions on the museums website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism before you go. When you leave the museum, the four minarets of the Selimiye rise right in front of you; a walk of a few minutes takes you through the eastern gate into the outer courtyard of the complex.

Source: Kültür Portalı ve Wikipedia, Edirne Müzesi.

Start your visit to the Selimiye not inside but outside, by walking around the outer courtyard of the complex. The building stands on the hill overlooking Edirne that sources call Kavak Meydanı or Sarıbayır. As you walk through the outer courtyard you see two madrasas placed symmetrically on either side of the mosque. The Darülkurra Madrasa now serves as the Foundation Museum and the Darülhadis Madrasa as the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts; if you have time, you can add one of them to the route. Then look at the minarets at the four corners of the mosque. Each has three balconies, and their shaft height is given as 70.89 metres; they are among the tallest minarets the Ottomans ever built. Mimar Sinan placed them not at the corners of the courtyard, as was customary, but at the corners of the prayer hall, framing the dome on four sides. Sources write that in the two minarets on the entrance side the balconies are reached by three separate staircases that never cross one another.

Enter the inner courtyard through the plain gate on the northwest side. The marble ablution fountain in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by porticoes and small domes, is counted among the finest examples of its period for its carved and pierced stonework. Notice that the last portico, which opens onto the prayer hall, is kept clearly higher than the other three; this leads the eye looking from the courtyard straight to the dome. The courtyard and the prayer hall are close to each other in size; both are given as roughly sixty by forty four metres.

When you take off your shoes and step inside, the first impression is that the whole space is gathered under a single dome. The dome rests on eight great piers, and because these piers are merged into the outer walls, they do not divide the interior. The dome is about 31 metres in diameter; its height is given in sources as between forty two and forty three metres. Sinan's biography reports that the master said he had surpassed the dome of the Hagia Sophia with this one. In the middle of the space, right under the dome, stands the wooden muezzin's platform resting on twelve low arches; the small marble fountain beneath it is also worth seeing. According to a local story, the upside down tulip motif under one of the platform's legs recalls the former owner of the plot. Then approach the mihrab area. The Iznik tiles on either side of the mihrab and the carved marble minbar are outstanding examples of sixteenth century stone and tile work. The raised sultan's loge in the eastern corner is also covered with Iznik tiles.

Follow a few rules during your visit. During prayer times wait in the courtyard rather than walking around inside, keep your voice low and do not pass in front of people who are praying. Wear clothing that covers shoulders and knees; women visitors should bring a headscarf. Do not use a flash when taking photographs, and take care not to frame people in your shots. Because of the comprehensive restoration that began at the end of 2021, some parts may be closed to visitors from time to time; check the current situation on official sources before you go.

On your way out, move to the southern side of the mosque that faces the city. Here the Selimiye Arasta runs along the qibla wall. The Kültür Portalı writes that Murad III had this market built by the architect Davut Ağa to provide income for the complex. Its length is given in sources as between two hundred and twenty five and two hundred and fifty six metres; under the prayer dome in its middle, it is said, the tradesmen promised every morning to deal honestly. Leaving the arasta, you walk downhill towards the Old Mosque and reach the bedesten.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Selimiye Camisi ve Selimiye Arastası; Wikipedia.

The bedesten stands at the southwestern foot of the hill on which the Selimiye rises, right next to the Old Mosque. The two should be thought of together, because the bedesten was built as an endowment of the Old Mosque. According to the Kültür Portalı, the building was commissioned by Sultan Çelebi Mehmed in 1417-1418; the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam adds that construction is also said to have begun under Musa Çelebi. The rent of the shops paid for the upkeep and services of the mosque. In other words, you are stepping into an example of the same system you have just seen at the Selimiye's arasta, about a hundred and fifty years older.

Before going in, read the building from the outside by looking at it from one of its corners. The walls are faced with cut stone in two colours, with courses of brick between them. On top, fourteen lead covered domes are lined up in two rows. Below each dome opens a pointed arched window; the light inside comes through these windows. There is a gate on each of the four sides, so the bedesten offers you an entrance whichever street you arrive from. The Kültür Portalı gives the size of the building as roughly forty by seventy five metres.

Once inside, look at the six piers set in a single row along the central axis. These piers divide the space into fourteen bays, each covered by a dome. The TDV stresses that this layout is very similar to that of the Bursa Bedesten; if you have seen Bursa, you will notice the kinship at once. The shops are lined up against the walls: there are fourteen vaulted cells on each long side and four on each short side. Notice how skilfully the shops that fall beside the gates and at the corners have been fitted into the plan.

In Ottoman cities the bedesten was the covered market where valuable goods were sold and kept safe. Evliya Çelebi wrote that the jewels here were worth several treasuries of Egypt and that sixty night watchmen guarded them. The traveller also noted that the city had an Old and a New Bedesten; according to the TDV only one still stands today, and the site of the other is not known. Over time inns and markets grew up around the bedesten, forming a wide commercial district. Some of them have not survived, but the Selimiye Arasta and the Ali Paşa Bazaar are still in place.

The building has been extensively repaired in recent years and is used as a market again today. Walk slowly among the shops, watch the changing light under the domes, and for a photograph try standing at one end of the central axis to catch the row of piers in a single frame. After leaving the bedesten, a short walk to the west brings you to one of the gates of the Ali Paşa Bazaar.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Bedesten; TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Bedesten.

The Ali Paşa Bazaar is a long, covered market in the centre of Edirne that starts at the corner of Saraçlar Street and the road leading towards Kapıkule. It was commissioned by Semiz Ali Paşa, grand vizier between 1561 and 1565, to provide income for his charitable foundations in Babaeski. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam writes that the building is named in the Tezkiretü'l-ebniye, the list of Mimar Sinan's works, and that this is how we know Sinan was its architect. Its date of construction, 976 or 1568-1569, is learned from a quatrain in which a poet from Edirne encoded the year. So you end the route in a building of the same century in which you began it, built in the same years as the Selimiye.

If possible, enter the bazaar through one of its end gates so that you can see its full length at a glance. The TDV names the gates at the two ends as the Kule Gate and the Balıkhane Gate; in between, four more gates give access from the side streets. Look closely at the arches of the gates: they are made of coloured interlocking stone, while the frames are of cut küfeki limestone. In the rest of the building the walls are built of brick bands with courses of stone set between them.

Inside, the bazaar is a single vaulted street running for about three hundred metres. The central vault is reinforced by arches, and each shop on either side opens onto this street through an arch. The striped look of the vault and the arches is the most photographed side of the bazaar; you get the best shot from the middle of the street, framing the row of arches as it recedes into the distance. As you walk you will notice that the side gates do not stand exactly on the axis but inside irregularly placed spaces. The TDV links this irregularity to the need to follow the street pattern of the time and counts it as a feature of old Ottoman town planning. Because the bazaar was built along a straight line, a square space carried by four piers was left in the middle; in arasta markets this section was used as a place of prayer.

Sources give different numbers of shops, and the difference also tells the story of the bazaar. The endowment record mentions 211 units and twenty five cells. Evliya Çelebi gives its length as a thousand paces and its shops as 360; Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who wrote letters from Edirne in 1718, very probably describes this bazaar too, mentioning 365 shops and a remarkably clean pavement. The TDV notes that today there are about a hundred to a hundred and ten shops within the architectural frame. The bazaar went through hard years in the nineteenth century, was repaired in 1867-1868 and in 1947, and came back to life after the 1960s.

Today the bazaar is part of everyday shopping in Edirne and a regular stop for those looking for the city's local products. Walk from one end to the other without hurrying, following the rhythm of the arches on both sides. When you leave the bazaar, a few steps take you to Saraçlar Street and the lanes of Kaleiçi, where you can continue the day if you wish.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Ali Paşa Çarşısı.