The Fifth and Sixth Hills - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 258

The school has moved to another location and its original home in
Çarşamba is now empty.
KUMRULU MESCİDİ
Soon after passing Darüşşafaka we reach Yavuz Selim Caddesi and
turn left. We walk along this avenue for about 150 metres and then
turn right at the first through street. A short way along on the left
we come to a little mosque called Kumrulu Mescidi, the Mescit of
the Turtle-Dove. The mosque takes its name from a fragment of
Byzantine sculpture used in the adjoining çeşme, showing two turtle-
doves drinking from the Fountain of Life. This mosque is of interest
principally because its founder and builder was Atik Sinan, the
Chief Architect of Sultan Mehmet II and the designer of the original
Mosque of the Conqueror. Atik Sinan's tombstone is to be seen in the
garden of the mosque, with an inscription which tells us that he was
executed by Fatih in 1471.
NIŞANCI MEHMET PAŞA CAMİİ
Continuing on the same street we come on our left to the beautiful
mosque of Nişancı Mehmet Paşa. This is one of the very best of the
classical mosques - and it is not by Sinan. (The mosque is, of course,
popularly ascribed to Sinan, but is does not appear in the best texts
of the Tezkere, the list of his works.) The identity of the architect,
unfortunately, is not known, but it was built for the Keeper of the Seal
(Nişancı) Mehmet Paşa between 1584 and 1588. From a distance one
sees the elegance of line and the masterly arrangement of the upper
structure: the great dome surrounded by the eight little weight-turrets
(the continuation of the columns that support the dome arches), the
eight semidomes of two sizes, and the minaret unusually close to
the dome base - an excellently proportioned distribution of curves
and verticals. One enters through the usual charming courtyard, the
arches of which are of the ogive type; under the porch of five bays
an inscription with the tuğra of Mustafa III records a restoration in
1766, presumably after the very severe earthquake of that year.
The plan of the mosque is an interesting variation of the octagon
inscribed in a square. Eight partly-engaged columns support the dome