Şemsi Pasha Mosque (the mosque birds avoid)

Istanbul · Turkiet · Historic building

The pasha demanded a mosque no bird could settle on — Sinan found the point where the winds cross, and they still do not come.

On the shoreline of Üsküdar stands a small mosque the city calls Kuşkonmaz, the one birds do not land on. The legend begins with an insult. Şemsi Ahmed Pasha had seen pigeons fouling Sokollu Mehmed Pasha's mosque and remarked on it. Sokollu, known for his sharpness, replied that every structure on earth receives its share from the sky. Şemsi Pasha then went to Mimar Sinan with an impossible commission: build me a mosque where birds cannot settle — where they do not even fly across the roof. Sinan studied the winds and set the building at the point where the air currents from the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea cross. Four hundred and forty years later, no birds land there. Its roof is clean while the neighbouring buildings are stained.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Şemsi Pasha Mosque (the mosque birds avoid)?

Şemsi Pasha Mosque (the mosque birds avoid) ligger i Istanbul, Turkiet.