Istanbul Attractions

Venue: Rustem Pasha Mosque    When: Daily

Rustem Pasha's mosque in Istanbul is without equal.

Rustem Pasha was made Grand Vizier under Sultan Sulieman the Magnificent at the behest of the Sultan's favourite concubine, Roxelana. Her intrigues resulted in the death of his predecessor, Ibrahim Pasha, whose former mansion is now a wonderful rug museum.

Pasha channelled the wealth that he accrued (from bribes he levied) into the construction of this mosque. Somewhat constrained by his status (only Sultans could build mosques with two minarets), he had to devise an alternative means of demonstrating his enormous power and prestige. So he employed the 16th century artisans of Iznik to create for him a series of completely unique ceramic tiles with which to decorate the building.

Nowadays just a single original Iznik tile can fetch up to £80,000 in Sothebys' auctions. The Rustem Pasha mosque's interior is covered in them, from floor to ceiling. Decorated with the Sultan's royal insignia of a round flower, as well as tulips and geometric swirls, the tiles' colours (blues, greens and the rare red) are as bright as when they were made. They constitute a visual treat unsurpassed by anything else in Istanbul.

The mosque was designed by Mimar Sinan, master architect to Sulieman the Magnificent, and it was here that the architect evolved his trademark octagonal-based single dome, his greatest contribution to Ottoman architecture.