Around the Mosque of the Conqueror - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 252

turned into a mosque. The original entrance, through a small domed
porch, is behind the dershane and at an odd angle to it, and the
wall that encloses this whole side is irregular in a way that is hard to
account for. Nevertheless, the building is very attractive and once
inside one does not notice its curious dissymmetry.
TÜRBE OF ŞAH HUBAN
Just west of this medrese across a side street stands a türbe and a
mektep in a walled garden. One enters the gaily planted garden by
a gate in the north wall and on the left is an octagonal türbe, that of
Şah Huban Kadın, a daughter of Selim I who died in 1572. This too
is a work of the great Sinan. While there is nothing remarkable about
the türbe, the mektep is a grand one. It is double; that is, it consists
of two spacious square rooms each covered by a dome and containing
an elegant ocak , or fireplace. The wooden roof and column of the
porch are modern, part of the recent restoration, but they perhaps
replace an equally simple original. The building now serves as an out-
patient clinic for mental illnesses.
TÜRBE OF HÜSREV PAŞA
Recrossing Vatan Caddesi, we take the avenue just opposite, Akdeniz
Caddesi, and walk uphill once again. We then take the fourth turning
on the left into Hüsrev Paşa Sokağı and at the next corner on the left
we come to a very handsome and elaborate türbe. It is by Sinan and
was built for Hüsrev Paşa, a grandson of Beyazit II. Hüsrev Paşa had
been one of the leading generals at the battle of Mohacz in 1526,
when the fate of Hungary was decided in less than two hours. He
governed Bosnia for many years with great pomp and luxury but also
with severe justice. While governor of Syria he founded a mosque at
Aleppo in 1536-7 which is the earliest dated building of Sinan and
is still in existence. While Beylerbey of Rumelia and Fourth Vezir in
1544, he fell into disgrace because of his complicity in a plot against the
Grand Vezir Süleyman Paşa. Despairing because of his fall from power,
he took his own life soon afterwards by literally starving himself to
death, one of the very rare incidents of suicide among the Ottomans.
The türbe of Hüsrev Paşa is octagonal in form, the eight faces being