AYASOPHIA MUSEUM - MAHMUT I LIBRARY

It is located between two wall suports at the southern part
of Ayasophia. It is an interesting product of Turkish construction
and decorative arts. It was built by Sultan Mahmud I in
1739. The library consists of a reading room, the room where
the books were kept under protection (hazine-i kütüb) and
a corridor between these two sections. Reading room is separated
from the main space of Ayasophia with a glass partion born
by six colons with diamond shaped capitals and covered with
a bronze mesh. The double doors of the entrance are also
covered with a bronze mesh decorated with flowers and scrolling
branches and has two handles engraved with "Ya Fettah".
The walls of the reading room are decorated with tiles and
calligraphic friezes. On the wall opposite to the door,
there is the porphyry monogram of Sultan Mahmud I, bordered
with green tiles.
The corridor joining the reading room and the book storage
is decorated with tile panels with flower, rose, carnation,
tulip and cypress motives. These panels are unique in terms
of color and form

The room of the books consists of two spaces separated by
4 columns and a platform. The first section is covered with
a dome and the second with a vault. The dome rests on an
octagonal ring. There is a wooden book cupboard at the center
of this space. On the inside of the door which is the entarence
to this section from the corridor there is the monogram
of Sultan Mahmud I and a 15 disyichs poem about the construction
ending with the date h. 1152 (1739).
İznik, Kütahya and Tekfur palace tiles of 16 -17 -18 centuries
were used in combination in the library. The 16 th century
İznik tiles in the book room and the flowered spring branches
composition on the tiles of the corridor which are from
the same century, are among the best examples of the Turkish
tile art.
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