Islamic architecture

Entrance to the Sünnet Odasi (circumcision chamber) in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Turkey. The former palace of the Ottoman Sultans, with a harem of 400 rooms, Topkapi is now one of the world's great museums. The walls are decorated with elaborately designed ceramic tiles.

The Sultan Ahmet Camii, or Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. It was built in 1609-16 for Sultan Ahmet I by the architect Mehmet Aǧa in classic Ottoman style.

The Blue Mosque (or Sultan Ahmet Mosque) in Istanbul was built between 1609 and 1616 by Mehmet Aga for Sultan Ahmet I. Modelled after two other great religious buildings of Istanbul - Hagia Sophia and the Suleimaniye Mosque - it is known as the Blue Mosque because of the predominantly blue and green tilework and painting of its interior.

A pair of turquoise-tiled minarets, from which faithful Muslims are called to prayer, flank the entrance to the Masjid-i-Sháh (King's Mosque) in the city of Esfahan, Iran. Building commenced in 1612, on the orders of Shah Abbas I, and the Masjid-i-Sháh remains one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in Iran.

The Theological School of the Mother of the Shah (Maddrassah Mader-e-Shah), built in Esfahan, Iran, during the years 1706-14. Construction of this training college for theology students was financed by the mother of Shah Sultan Hossein, last king of the Safavid dynasty, and represents the last flowering of that immensely fertile period in Persian art and architecture.

Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo. Originally built in 876, this Arab-style mosque was restored several times and was declared a historic monument in 1890. Seen here are the arches and pillars of the arcades that surround the mosque's courtyards.

Sultan Hassan mosque and maddrassah, Cairo. The building was constructed for Sultan Hassan in 1356 as a mosque and religious school for members of each of the four main Sunni Muslim sects.

The mosque of Aya Sofia, also called the Hagia Sophia or Church of Holy Wisdom, Istanbul, Turkey. This Christian cathedral was built under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I by the architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. The building was completed in 537. During the 15th century, when the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, the church was converted into a mosque, with minarets added and Christian frescoes painted over.

The Blue Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed I, in Istanbul, Turkey. Renowned for its distinctively coloured tilework and six fluted minarets, the Blue Mosque was built in the early 17th century by the architect Sedefkar Mehmed Agha. It is based on the 6th-century Byzantine Hagia Sofia, and has a symmetrical design.

The Muslim holy city of Kairouan, Tunisia. It was founded in AD 670, when the site was occupied by the Arab conqueror Uqba ibn Nafi. Within its walls is the Great Mosque of Kairouan, a marvel of Islamic architecture. The mosque's minaret, built between 724 and 728, is the oldest standing minaret in the world.

The architecture of the Muslim world, highly diverse but unified by climate, culture, and a love of geometric and arabesque ornament, as well as by the mobility of ideas, artisans, and architects throughout the region. The central public buildings are mosques, often with a dome and minaret; domestic houses face an inner courtyard and are grouped together, with vaulted streets linking the blocks.

The mosque is the centre of religious life throughout the Islamic world, the masjid or ‘place of prostration’. The major mosque in a city is the masjid al-jum'a, the Friday mosque. The mosque form originated in Muhammad's house in Medina (where he fled from Mecca in 622). It was a mud-walled courtyard enclosure with a shaded perimeter. The elements of the mosque are essentially functional rather than symbolic. There is no division between the sacred and secular. A mihrab niche within the prayer hall indicates the orientation to Mecca. To the right of the mihrab stands the minbar, the pulpit. A minaret signifies the presence of the mosque and provides a platform from which the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer. A courtyard sahn is a place of gathering for the community. The Arab-type mosque plan of columned halls surrounding a courtyard is found throughout North Africa, Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia; an example is the mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun, Cairo, Egypt (876-79). The other great mosque type is the four-eyvan mosque originating in Iran. Here the courtyard has a high eyvan, or arched recess, in the centre of each side. This plan comes from the Persian house and is seen at its noblest in the Masjid-i-Jum'a in Esfahan, Iran, 8th-18th centuries. A very flexible plan form, it is found from Cairo to central Asia in mosques, theological colleges, caravanserais, and hospitals. In the Ottoman Empire, the stimulus of the Hagia Sophia (532-37), Istanbul, the great church of Justinian, inspired the development of the imperial Turkish mosque in which the open courtyard of the Arab and Iranian mosques is translated into a great space enclosed by a large central dome; an example is the Suleymaniye, Istanbul (1550-57) by Sinan. The minaret was originally square, following the towers of Christian churches. Spiral minarets are found but most commonly they take the form of a tapering cylindrical tower. The Islamic city is a highly organic entity. The basic cellular unit is the courtyard house, representing the desire for privacy and familial obligations of Muslim life. The houses are grouped into quarters, often of a tribal or ethnic character. Each quarter has its own mosques and facilities. At the centre of the city stands the focus of the community, the congregational mosque, the masjid al-jum'a. The arteries of this intricate organism are the vaulted streets of the souk, or bazaar, which thread outwards from the masjid al-jum'a towards the great gates of the enclosing fortified walls. The key monuments and facilities of the city are found along the souk - the religious colleges, baths, hospitals, and fountains. Examples of these are found in Fès, Morocco; Aleppo, Syria; and Esfahan, Iran. Islamic private houses are invariably inward-looking courtyard houses. A bent corridor (for privacy) leads from the gated entry from the public lane into a courtyard paved with tiles, often planted with shade trees and with a pool at the centre. Surrounding the courtyard are the principal rooms of the house. Different sides of the courtyard may provide separate accommodation for sections of the extended family.

Decoration and colour

In Islam there is a general dislike of figurative representation. As a consequence, architectural decoration relies on calligraphic script and abstract ornament, often combined with a passion for colour, intensified by the desert environment. The domes and courts of such buildings as the 17th-century Masjid-i-Sháh, Esfahan, Iran, are entirely clothed in faience tiles. Arabic script is used extensively in the earliest surviving Islamic building, the Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, (AD 691), and thereafter the word of God plays a significant role in architectural decoration.

Islamic gardens

In a largely arid region, the Islamic garden represents an image of paradise. The basic plan is a rectangular enclosure walled against the dust of the desert and divided into at least four sections by water channels. Pavilions are placed at focal points within the gardens. An example is Chehel Sutun, Esfahan, 17th century.