Palace and Hospital on the Banks of the Tunca

Begin the route at the western gate of the Üç Şerefeli Mosque, because the building's relationship with the market is best read from here. Owing to the sloping ground, this gate is reached by steps, and its block of white marble projects forward from the facade. Look closely at the colonnettes at the corners of the niche framing the gate; they carry hourglass and plaited motifs. The red and white palmettes decorating the pointed arch of the niche are also the detail that sets this gate apart from the other entrances to the courtyard. Once inside the courtyard, stop and look around you, because the arcaded courtyard was used for the first time in Ottoman architecture in this building. The columns carrying the arcades were chosen from different stones; most are marble, while on the north wing there are some carved from granite and green Euboean stone. Raise your head to look at the painted decoration inside the domes of the arcades. These decorations were renewed during the eighteenth-century repair while staying faithful to the old patterns. Two of the courtyard windows have panels of navy blue and white tiles in their lunettes, and the Culture Portal notes that the name of Murad II appears on them. Then try to tell apart the minarets at the four corners of the courtyard one by one, because all four are decorated differently. The three-balconied minaret that gives the mosque its name is adorned with zigzags of red stone, and with a height approaching seventy metres it was the tallest minaret of its time. The fact that each balcony of this minaret is reached by its own staircase is the most often told engineering detail of the building. The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam dates the lozenge-patterned minaret, built of red and white squares, to the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. The twisted minaret, wrapped in thick spiralling mouldings like a helix, was built during the repair after the earthquake of 1762. If you are going to enter the prayer hall, make sure your shoulders and knees are covered, women visitors should cover their heads, and avoid the times of prayer. Inside you are met by a rectangular space that extends widthwise. The great dome at the centre is about twenty-four metres across, and two smaller domes stand on each side of it. The sources stress that this plan was applied in a more developed form in Mimar Sinan's mosques in Istanbul in the following century. Notice the small domes filled with muqarnas placed in the triangular gaps between the main dome and the side domes. For photographs, catching the three-balconied minaret together with the arches of the arcades in one frame from the northwest corner of the courtyard works well. On your way out, glance at the two madrasas east of the mosque: one is the clock madrasa of Murad II, the other the Peykler Madrasa of the Conqueror's time. In the summer months the Peykler Madrasa is used as the excavation house of the Edirne Palace dig, so the archaeologists of the next big stop stay right beside this courtyard. From here, walk north towards the Tunca for about one kilometre to reach the Kanuni Bridge.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Üç Şerefeli Cami ve Külliyesi; Kültür Portalı, Üç Şerefeli Cami.

When you reach the Kanuni Bridge, do not step onto it straight away; first look at it as a whole from the bank on the town side. The bridge is also popularly known as the Palace Bridge, because for centuries this was the main route from the city to Sarayiçi. It crosses one branch of the Tunca on four arches of cut stone, and on calm days the arches are reflected on the surface of the river. The date of the bridge is given in two different ways in the sources. Some write the years 1553 to 1554, while the Culture Portal says it is thought to have been built in 1560 together with the Justice and Water Balance pavilions. Its attribution to Mimar Sinan also carries an interesting detail, because according to Turkish Archaeological News the bridge does not appear in the Ottoman lists that count Sinan's works. The attribution comes from Ahmet Badi Efendi's work Riyaz-ı Belde-i Edirne. The sources also differ on the length; different measurements from sixty to eighty metres have been written. Its width, on the other hand, is given as four and a half metres, a narrow passage where two people can comfortably walk side by side. According to Wikipedia, the bridge is today a historic monument under the General Directorate of Highways. Turkish Archaeological News stresses that although the palace itself has gone, the three historic stone bridges linking the island to the mainland have survived to our day and are still in use. Now step onto the bridge and walk to its middle. Looking left and right from here you understand how the river wraps around the island, because a little to the south the Tunca splits into two branches and turns Sarayiçi into an island. The long bridge visible to the southwest is the one built in 1451 by the vizier Şahabeddin Pasha, also known by the name Saraçhane. This bridge was repaired in 1706 in the reign of Mustafa II, and the repair inscription still stands in place. You will see the three-arched Fatih Bridge on the northern branch from inside the palace grounds at the next stop. According to the Culture Portal, Suleiman set this bridge on the same axis as the Fatih Bridge and so redefined the main entrance of the palace. In other words, the line you are walking on is part of the ceremonial road that sultans and envoys followed when entering the palace. The water going to the palace was also carried over this bridge, in pipes laid along it. A branch of the Taşlımüsellim water that Mimar Sinan brought to the city was connected to the palace in this way. The bridge was badly damaged in the great flood of 1902 and was last restored in 1990. For photographs the light is softer in the afternoon; if you want to shoot the arches together with the water, go back down to the bank. Once you cross to the far bank, you will have stepped into the old area of the palace known as the Hasbahçe.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Saray (Kanuni) Köprüsü; Turkish Archaeological News, Sarayiçi köprüleri.

When you cross into Sarayiçi, first stop in the middle of the wide meadow and try to take in the size of the area. The Culture Portal writes that the palace was built on an area of more than three hundred thousand square metres, and Edirne Palace is counted as the second largest Ottoman palace after Topkapı. Work began in 1450 under Murad II, and the palace was completed in 1475 by Mehmed the Conqueror. Because it was surrounded by the river, no defensive wall was felt necessary, and only a low, plain wall was thought sufficient. Start your walk at the Tower of Justice; this square tower rising in cut stone and covered with a pyramid-shaped cap is easy to pick out from a distance. According to Wikipedia, Suleiman the Magnificent had Mimar Sinan build it in 1561, and its top floor holds a marble fountain. The sources report that in its time the pavilion was set aside for council meetings and judicial business. From right beside the pavilion, walk to the Fatih Bridge, which crosses the northern branch of the Tunca on three arches. This bridge is dated to 1452, one year before the conquest of Istanbul, and it linked the Hasbahçe to the Sand Square of the palace. Crossing the bridge to the palace side, you will see on the west a long building covered with domes: these are the palace kitchens, the Matbah-ı Amire. Look at the stone chimneys on the roof, because from outside they show where the hearths stood inside. The Sand Pavilion Bath to the northeast of the Sand Square is also one of the few buildings still standing from the middle of the fifteenth century. Of the Cihannüma Pavilion, the main building of the palace, only remains of stone walls survive today. While looking at the ruins, knowing how the palace came to this state changes the view. In the nineteenth century the palace was used as an ammunition depot, and during the war of 1877 to 1878, when the ammunition piled up around the Gate of Felicity was set on fire, it was largely destroyed by explosions that lasted three days. The remaining pieces were reused in other buildings in the following years. Today excavation and restoration work continues on the site; follow the marked paths, as some sections may lie behind fences. Sarayiçi is also the wrestling ground of the Kırkpınar oil wrestling, and the bouts have been held on this site since 1924. Even on days when the stands are silent, this open ground shows how the island lives today. The wooded area lying between the two branches of the Tunca, the old hunting ground of the palace, is called the Tavuk Ormanı. The sources report that about seventy bird species were once recorded here, so it is worth standing quietly under the trees for a few minutes. Since there is little shade at midday in summer, break up your walk with short rests in the shade of the trees. From here, go up to the north bank of the Tunca and follow the river westwards; after about one kilometre you reach the Complex of Sultan Bayezid II.

Source: Kültür Portalı, Saray-ı Cedid (Yeni Saray); Wikipedia, Edirne Sarayı.

When you reach the complex, first stop in the outer courtyard and read the layout, because this is not a single building but a group of buildings spread along the bank of the Tunca. According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the hospital and the madrasa stand on one side of the courtyard, the soup kitchen and the kitchens on the other, and the mosque stands at the end facing the river. Sultan Bayezid II had the foundations laid in 1484 on his way to the campaign against Akkerman, and the complex was completed in 1488. The museum's own presentation states that the architect was most probably Mimar Hayreddin, but that no document confirming this has survived. Do not forget to look at the four-sided fountain with a pyramid cap outside the courtyard gate; according to its inscription it was added in 1669 to 1670. Passing from the museum entrance into the hospital, in the first courtyard you see small domed rooms lined up behind a colonnaded portico. The museum has arranged this section as outpatient rooms and also presents its exhibition of musical instruments here. Look closely at the walls, because the museum says that twenty-eight drawings scratched into the stones have been identified. Among them are ships, a castle, deer and birds, and they are thought to have been drawn by patients who lay here. Pass through a monumental gateway into the second courtyard; the domed rooms at the corners and the iwans on both sides were the administrative section of the hospital. The truly astonishing space is the third section, the healing hall; save it for last and enter slowly. Iwans and rooms ranged around a hexagonal hall, a high dome in the middle and the lantern at the top of the dome greet you. Stand by the pool with its fountain right in the centre and simply listen for a while. Evliya Çelebi wrote that patients here were made to listen to music played on instruments three days a week, and with its display about this tradition the museum today still brings the sound of water and music together under the same dome. It is suggested that the five-windowed projection opposite the entrance was the place of the musicians; but the TDV notes that there are other views about this section as well. Notice that the windows of the rooms look both onto the garden and onto the pool, because light, air and sound were conceived together here. The museum brings the madrasa next to the hospital to life with mannequins as a section about fifteenth-century medical education. Know that there is a conflict between the sources here: the TDV writes that the claim that the building was a medical school has no solid basis. The hospital served until the end of the nineteenth century, was handed over to Trakya University in 1984 and opened as a museum on 23 April 1997. The museum won the Council of Europe Museum Prize in 2004. Before leaving, walk to the front of the mosque and notice that the minarets rise far from the dome, at the corners of the guest houses on both sides. The TDV reports this arrangement with Evliya Çelebi's interpretation that it was chosen so that the minarets would not damage the dome in an earthquake. Since entry conditions and opening days may change, check the museum's official website before your visit. Finish the route on the bank of the Tunca, watching the domes of the complex together with their reflection in the water.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Beyazıt II Camii ve Külliyesi (Edirne); Sultan II. Bayezid Külliyesi Sağlık Müzesi.