Büyük Mecidiye Mosque

This guide to the Büyük Mecidiye Mosque in Istanbul follows Sultan Abdülmecid I, the reforming nineteenth-century ruler and skilled calligrapher who commissioned this Bosphorus-front mosque from the Armenian Balyan family and, inside, wrote part of the minbar's calligraphy in his own hand. It traces the building's near-misses, including an 1894 earthquake, a dangerous lean and a 1984 fire, and the blend of Ottoman and European style that sets it apart from any other mosque in the city.