Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan/Dolmabahçe Camiisi (Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan/Dolmabahçe Mosque)
The Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Mosque - or Dolmabahçe Mosque as it is commonly known - is located on the Meclisi Mebusan Caddesi in Kabataş, on the shore of the Bosphorus.
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Address
Meclisi Mebusan Cad., Kabataş
Visiting Hours
Daily, except prayer times.
Muslims pray five times each day. The precise timing of prayers often vary by a few minutes each day, therefore throughout a year there is a wide range of prayer times. The reason is that Islamic prayer times were traditionally set according to the movement of the sun.
Actually Islamic prayers are fixed at the same "time" period each day -- before dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening. Because of the rotation of the earth, the latitudes of the earth’s locations, daylight savings time, etc. -- the "times" (according to the clock) for these prayers change depending on time of day and location.
The Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Mosque – or Dolmabahçe Mosque as it is commonly known – is located on the Meclisi Mebusan Caddesi in Kabataş, on the shore of the Bosphorus. It was commissioned in 1852 by Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan, the wife of Sultan Mahmud II and the mother of Sultan Abdülhamid. The construction of the mosque was finished in 1853, after Bezm-i Alem Sultan’s death. The mosque’s architect was Nikogos Balyan; its style shows a mixture of 19th century Ottoman and Western styles.
Built of marble and stone, the mosque was home to the Sea Museum from 1948-1961. After the museum moved to a new location the mosque was restored and reopened to worshipers in 1966.
Mosque is a place of worship for Muslims. It comes from the Arabic word 'masjid' which literally means "a place for prostration". Mosques are also places where Muslims come together for different purposes such as education, social gatherings, public meetings, exhibitions, lectures etc. Although there is no specific requirement for mosques in terms of their architecture, one can see some common features inside and outside of many mosques such as minarets, domes, ablution areas, prayer niche (mihrab), pulpit (minbar) and so on.
Muslims are obliged to perform the ritual worship 5 times a day. They are not required to attend a mosque for each of these prayers however in order to interact with the community they are encouraged to pray in congregation. Friday noon is the only time in a week when Muslims must definitely join the congregational prayer in a mosque after which they can continue their work, education or other commitments.
Azan or the call for prayer is a vocal announcement that one can hear from minarets 5 times a day. The call to prayer is made live -even early in the morning- by a person called 'muazzin'. The muazzins are usually chosen from people with loud and beautiful voices and trained over years to make this announcement beautifully and invite people to worship.
From the Atatürk Airport and Taksim
Take the Havataş Shuttle or public bus 96T from the Atatürk Airport to Taksim
Walk along the Gümüşsuyu Street or take yellow mini-bus (dolmuş)
