Büyük Mecidiye Camii - Ortaköy Mosque

This is my last photo trek before the summer break. I'll be leaving Istanbul for the summer and before I go I wanted to share this trek with you:  the Ortakoy Camii.  I've been wanting to visit this place for so long but it was closed for restoration for as long as I've been living in Istanbul.   

In June 2014, the restoration work on the Ortaköy Mosque was completed and it was again opened to worshippers and the public. 

Ortaköy Camii  view from the Ortakoy's Iskelesi window.

Ortaköy Mosque (Turkish: Ortaköy Camii), officially the Büyük Mecidiye Camii (Grand Imperial Mosque of Sultan Abdülmecid) in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, is situated at the waterside of the Ortaköy pier square, one of the most popular locations on the Bosphorus.

You can get there by any bus that goes thru the coast road. You can also arrive by ferry from Besiktas and have a 20 min walk up the coast road towards the Bosphorus bridge.

Ortaköy Camii - Bosphorus Bridge.

The original Ortaköy Mosque was built in the 18th century. The current mosque, which was erected in its place, was ordered by the Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid and built between 1854 and 1856. Its architects were Armenian father and son Garabet Amira Balyan and Nigoğayos Balyan (who also designed the nearby Dolmabahçe Palace and the Dolmabahçe Mosque), who designed it in the Neo-Baroque style.

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Interior

Main entrance.

Candelabrums.

Dome.

Main Candelabrum.

Candelabrum and dome.

Mihrab.

Marbel decoration.

Window facing Sultanhmet.

View from behind 

Islamic calligraphy view from the front entrance.

Within the mosque hang several examples of Islamic calligraphy executed by Sultan Abdülmecid himself, who was also a hattat (master calligrapher.)

Islamic calligraphy from one side of the mosque.

Back of the mosque.

Women's prayer section.

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Exterior

Two minarets.

Baroque structure.

Windows facing the Bosphorus.

Columns.

Back structure.

Ortaköy's mosque view from behind. 

Minarets.

Entrance door's calligraphy.

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Surroundings

Coffeehouses and tea terraces overlooking the water fill the seaside next to the mosque now as they have for decades—perhaps centuries—and are one of Ortaköy's prime attractions.

On weekends, vehicular traffic along the Bosphorus shore road can be extremely heavy and slow, so midday on weekdays is the best time to visit Ortaköy.

Pedestrian road to Ortaköy.

Colorful houses surrounding the Ortaköy Mosque.

Stores surrounding the mosque.

View from the window of the Ortakoy Iskelesi.

Ortaköy's mosque view from the esplanade.

Ortakoy Iskelesi.

Bosphorus bridge.

Fisherman at Ortakoy mosque.

Caffes and Restaurants outside the mosque.

Explanade plain of doves.

Flag vendors.

This is the last trek before I leave Istanbul for the summer, I am so excited to go back to my country and experience seeing the places that are so familiar to me but jet not explore thru the eye of my camera.

Happy Summer to Everyone, I hope you enjoyed the views!

Soreya Reyes