| Fountain of Ahmed III in Üsküdar | |
|---|---|
Üsküdar III. Ahmet Çeşmesi | |
 | |
  Location of the fountain in Istanbul, Turkey | |
| General information | |
| Type | Fountain |
| Architectural style | Ottoman architecture |
| Location | Üsküdar |
| Address | İskele Meydanı |
| Town or city | Istanbul |
| Country | Turkey |
| Coordinates | 41°01′36″N29°00′55″E / 41.02667°N 29.01528°E /41.02667; 29.01528 |
| Completed | 1729; 296 years ago (1729) |
| Owner | Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality |
| Height | |
| Roof | Wooden covered with lead sheet |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Marble |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Kayserli Mehmed Ağa |
TheFountain of Sultan Ahmed III in Üsküdar (Turkish:Üsküdar III. Ahmet Çeşmesi) is an 18th-century public waterfountain built byOttoman sultanAhmed III in theOttomanrococo architecture and situated in the grand square ofÜsküdar inIstanbul, Turkey.
Sultan Ahmed III (reigned 1703–1730) commissioned thesebil, a public fountain to provide drinking water for travellers and running water for praying people'sritual washing needs. Completed in 1728–1729, within an era with great importance attached to the construction of many fountains, it was dedicated to thesultan's motherEmetullah Rabia Gülnuş Sultan (1642–1715), who was buried in Üsküdar.[1][2][3][4][5]
The fountain was initially situated directly on the quay at the waterfront ofBosphorus to serve travellers crossing the Strait. During the redesigning of the area in 1932–1933, the fountain was dismantled and relocated to the center of the nearby square next to theMihrimah Sultan Mosque.[1][4][6][7][8][9]
It underwent two major restorations. In the first one, during its relocation, the broken parts of the fountain were repaired or replaced. The second restoration took place in 1955, when the structure had to be elevated about 1.45 m (4.8 ft) to match the square's ground level.[5] The fountain stands today on a two-step high platform in İskele Square at the intersection of Paşalimanı Street and Hakimiyetimilliye Street.[6][7][9][10]
The fountain was built as a stand-alone structure in the type of a "square fountain" (Turkish:meydan çeşmesi) looking like a monument.[7] It has the form of anoctagonal prism with wide fourfacades and four narrow corner facades. The octagon plan of the fountain at the base turns into a quasi-square form at the top. The square-pyramid formedhip roof has wide eaves on all sides. The fountain is built by solid white marble with a wooden roof covered by lead sheet.[1][2][4][5][6][9]
Designed by the court architectKayserili Mehmed Ağa in the rococo architectural style of OttomanTulip Period (1703–1757), it is adorned with ornamentation. Its design shows similarities with theFountain of Ahmed III (1729) and theTophane Fountain (1732).[2][5][10]
İt features a faucet inside alancet arch in the middle of each facade over awatering trough to enable for bucket filling, livestock drinking or taking ritual body washing for prayer. The higher-attached faucets over a sink in the four corner facades were designed to spend drinking water for people. In the wall of the main facade, which looks at Bosphorus, there are two semicircular niches on both sides resembling amosque'smihrab. A number of relief flower motifs as tulips, roses andchrysanthemums in vase adorn the structure. Each of the eight corners of the fountain features aSolomonic column topped with aCorinthian order capital. At the top of the corner facades in between the columns,muqarnas, three-dimensional decorations of Islamic architecture, are placed, which transform the octagon plan of the fountain into a square right under the roof. The wooden roof's eaves features carved ornaments over acornice encircling the entire structure.[2][3][4][5][6][8][9][10]
On each of the four wide facades, the fountain features an inscription inArabic script, which was in use in the Ottoman Empire. The inscriptions on three facades are excerpts from verses of three poets, namely the famousDiwan poetNedîm (1681?–1730), Şakir andKırımlı Mustafa Rahmi (died 1750),[2][7] while the inscription on the main facade contains verses inspired by both Sultan Ahmed III and his son-in-law,Grand VizierNevşehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha (1666–1730).[6][8][10] The inscription is written inJeli Thuluth style ofIslamic calligraphy by Sultan Ahmet III himself, who was also a poet and calligrapher.[1][5][9] It was signed as "Ahmed ibn-i Mehmed Han" (Ahmed, the son ofKhanMehmed).[4]
The construction date of the fountain can be calculated from the inscriptions by theAbjad system, which assigns numerical values to Arabic letters for purposes ofnumerology. The calculated value ofAH 1141 inIslamic calendar, which was in use in the Ottoman Empire, corresponds toAD 1728–1729.[5]
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