| Fountain of Ahmed III | |
|---|---|
| Turkish:III. Ahmet Çeşmesi | |
.jpg) Fountain of Ahmed III and Hagia Sophia on the left side of the fountain. | |
 | |
| Year | 1728 (1728) |
| Medium | Marble |
| Movement | Tulip Period |
| Subject | Ahmed III |
| Location | Istanbul, Turkey |
TheFountain of Sultan Ahmed III (Turkish:III. Ahmet Çeşmesi) is afountain (specifically asebil) in the great square in front of the Imperial Gate ofTopkapı Palace inIstanbul,Turkey. It was built underOttoman sultanAhmed III in 1728, in thestyle of the Tulip period. It was a social centre and gathering place during the Ottoman period ofConstantinople.
The fountain was built in 1728 under the patronage of Sultan Ahmed III.[1][2] It is the oldest and most impressive example of the new type of stand-alone fountains that were built during theTulip Period, mostly between 1728 and 1732.[1][2] In the same year (1728), Ahmed III also commissioned a similarfountain in Üsküdar, although it has a slightly simpler design.[1]
The fountain was depicted on thereverse of the Turkish 10lira banknotes of 1947–1952.[3]
The fountain is a large square block built with five small domes.Mihrab-shaped niches decorated in low relief with foliate and floral designs in each of the four façades, each containing a drinking fountain (çeşme). The water is supplied from an octagonal pool inside the kiosk, with circulation space around it for kiosk attendants. On each corner is a triple-grilledsebil (from which an attendant issued cups of water or sherbet, free of charge, from behind a grille).
Above the drinking fountains and niches on each façade andsebil are largecalligraphic plates bordered with blue and red tiles. Each plate bears stanzas of a 14-line poem dedicated to water and its donor by Seyyid Hüseyin Vehbi bin Ahmed, the chief judge of Halep and Kayseri. It is read clockwise around the fountain, beginning at the northernsebil. The last stanza of the poem the northwest façade is achronogram composed by Ahmed III.
41°00′29.71″N28°58′52.36″E / 41.0082528°N 28.9812111°E /41.0082528; 28.9812111