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Dick Osseman | all galleries >> Special: Sinan mosques >> Sinan outside Istanbul >> Lala Mustafa Paşa Camii – Erzurum > Erzurum june 2011 8557.jpg
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30-JUN-2011

Erzurum june 2011 8557.jpg

The Lala Mustafa Paşa was built in 1562. It was the first Ottoman mosque of the town; its architect was Mimar Sinan.
The mosque was commissioned by Lala Kara Mustafa Paşa (1500-1580), who had been a tutor (‘Lala’) to the future Selim II. He made a long political and military career, first as Ottoman governor of Egypte, of Erzurum and of Damascus; he led the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus (1570) and the campaign against Georgia and Persia (1578). He rose to Fifth Vizier, and became Grand Vizier at the very end of his life.

On the picture: The interior. The octagonal structure in the middle is the ‘Müezzin Mahfili’ /platform for the muezzin (the man who recites the call to prayer).
Apart from calling the congregation to prayer, in some mosques the muezzin stands during the worship service on his special platform and gives responses during the imam's sermon.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: ‘Türkiye Tarihi Yerler Kılavuzu’ – M.Orhan Bayrak, Inkılâp Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1994 & Wikipedia.

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