Valide Sultan Mosque
Valide Sultan Mosque, located on the old Roman road that runs West from the Hagia Sophia and past the Grand Bazaar, this mosque is between the modern metro stations of Aksaray and Vezneciler. Seen from the main road, the building’s Turkish Rococo marble work is an impressive and unexpected sight. Built in the late 19th century, the mosque has an eclectic mixture of styles and influences, from Baroque to North African to Gothic and Ottoman. Sultan Pertevniyal, wife of Sultan Mahmud II and also mother of Sultan Abdülaziz, commissioned the mosque from either Italian architect Montani Efendi of Ottoman-Armenian architect Sarkis Balyan. The interior is even more splendid than the exterior, with intricately colored painting covering all the walls and the dazzling dome.
