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FOUNTAINS: SOUVENIRS FROM THE SULTANS

The fountains standing in the several corners of Istanbul like unprizable art monuments are the works of respect towards the water in our country. The belief that quenching is good deed and the Islamic religion's ordering cleanliness have led the great water facilities, fountains and public fountains to be built not only in Istanbul but also in every corner of the country; yet, only some of them have reached today.

After the city had reached enough water by the several facilities made to be built in Suleyman the Magnificent, Osman II, Ahmed III, Mustafa III, Selim III and Mahmud I eras, sultans declared that the excessive water was allowed for people who want fountains to be made with the imperial orders they stated. By these imperial orders, the luminaries of the city besides sultans made fountains to be built to every corner of the city in order to make their names be commemorated. So, fountain and public fountain branch of Turkish architectural art appeared. This architectural art's starting to gain monument feature, on the other hand, starts with the 18th century. Especially in the Tulip Era, Istanbul had reached precious and very beautiful fountains carrying artistic values.

Saliha Sultan Fountain

This fountain was made to be built in 1732 by the mother of Sultan Mahmud I, Saliha Sultan. As it is located in the middle of Azapkapi Square on the down side of Unkapani Bridge, it took the name of this town. It is known as 'Saliha Sultan Fountain' among the people. There is a story about the construction of the fountain that has reached today being told over centuries. According to this story, there had been a small fountain there before the monument fountain of today was constructed and the people met their water requirement from here. Hatice Sultan, the mother of Sultan Mehmed IV saw a little girl crying near this fountain. There was a jug handle in one of the girl's hands and with the other she was drying her eyes. Hatice Sultan, known as a charitable woman, was very sad about the situation of this little girl and she wanted to give her money calling her. Then the little girl said with a maturity that wasn't expected from her, "I don't cry for breaking the jug, I cry for that I couldn't overcome such a simple work like water bringing". Valide Sultan was very pleased with what she heard. After she learnt the girl's name, family name, where she was from and where she lived, she turned to Palace. Not much later, Saliha's family got news from the Palace as their daughter was demanded by the Palace. One day she became the wife of Sultan Mustafa II. Saliha Sultan was looking for the ways to be helpful for the public not forgetting the days her old poor days, although she was a wealthy person anymore. Here, the fountain rising in the middle of the square was the product of this thought. The work of which architect isn't known for sure, was composed of two fountains in two sides, a public fountain in the middle and a water tank in addition to these. The public fountain and the fountains are covered with marbles and it is ornamented with figures inspired from the east and west ornaments of the era.

The First Square Fountain

Although all Istanbul fountains don't have such stories, it is no doubt that they all have characteristic properties. For example, Sultan Ahmed III Fountain in the area back of the Hagia Sophia in Blue Mosque field is the "first square fountain". Although Ahmed III, the famous sultan of the Tulip Era, was known for his prudence, he loosened the purse strings in order to be get this fountain made and ordered a superior fountain to be built compared to those of European. Following this order, the expert mason, casters, lead casters and ceramists were mobilized and the fountain which the sultan was looking forward to be finished was completed in1729.
The fountain built by an architecture group under the leadership of Kayserili Mehmed Aga had four façades and all façades had one fountain and public fountain on the corners and its main façade was looking to Hagia Sophia. Ceramic, bronze, wood and marble equipment were integrated to each other facade of this fountain.

The Fountain Vitalizing Tophane

Tophane Fountain was made in 1732 by the head architect of the Palace Mehmed Aga under the command of Sultan Mahmud I. At the beginning of the 18th century Tophane Square was one of the most central places in Istanbul and there were shops in here where trade goods were sold. Yet, there was no fountain to meet the requirement for water. So, in order to create the needed area to construct Tophane Fountain with this aim, first the shops in the square were ruined and Tophane Fountain or with the other name Mahmud I Fountain was constructed in this area.
The four marble façades of the fountain are quite the same. There is a pointed arc in the middle. Under the art the fountain arc a trough, on the two sides of the fountain embossed ornaments that symbolizes the several fruited trees in the flowerpots or these facades.

Uskudar Seaport Fountain

The glorious fountain in Uskudar Seaport Square lives the memoir of Gulnus Sultan, the mother of Sultan Ahmed III. Gulnus Sultan, among one of the most charitable sultans of Ottoman history died in 1715 in Edirne. After her corpse was brought to Istanbul and she was buried to the tomb in front of Yeni Valide Mosque which was made to the memory of her. Sultan Ahmed III ordered Damad Ibrahim Pasha a fountain to be constructed which would commemorate the name of his mother with good wills. Only locals were using the fountain, the water carriers and the residents of other towns weren't given water from this fountain which was opened in 1729, fourteen years after the death of Gulnus Valide Sultan. The work is accepted as the pioneer of Turkish rococo art from the historical aspect. There are two cells together with three façades in the middle of which pointed arc faucet and two fountains of which troughs look to the sea on the main façade. On the fountain, as on the fountain in front of Topkapi Palace, there are embossed and carved typed ornaments. The fountain that was close to the sea when it was constructed, was left inside in the years following as the sea was filled and the dome-like roof on it was ruined by time.

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FOUNTAINS OF ISTANBUL

Endowing money for the construction of a fountain and a water supply line to it was an act of piety which played an important role in Ottoman life. Hardly a sultan, sultan's mother, sultan's daughter, grand vezir, or other august personage did not endow a fountain in expression of their economic, social and political standing, and fountains became an important part of the architectural tradition. Fountains were decorative features of both outdoor public spaces like squares, and intimate indoor spaces in private dwellings, and they reflected the architectural taste and styles of their time.

Surviving documents show that in the sixteenth century in particular the Ottoman government favoured supplying public fountains rather than private homes with mains water. This made the local fountain an indispensable focal point of every neighbourhood. In these introverted neighbourhoods, with their wooden houses with jettied upper storeys, deadend streets, and lanes reflecting their organic evolution, the fountain shaped their unique character. The human scale organic streets wound and turned their way to the mosque square, which was always characterised by a fountain as well as a coffee house and spreading plane tree casting welcome shade. In Istanbul, as in every Turkish city in the past, the local fountain was a hub of social intercourse.
Istanbul was never at any time a city with abundant water sources close at hand, but from the sixteenth century onwards, as the water system was improved and extended, the government began to permit water to be piped into private mansions in the city and along the Bosphorus. The luxury of piped mains water was a privilege requiring a royal patent, and ordinary people were still largely dependent on neighbourhood public fountains for their water, augmented by that obtained from wells and cisterns.
There were two classes of fountain, those for the use of the general public and those allocated to the use of the sakas. Although it was forbidden for the sakas, particularly those who used horses, to fill their water skins at the public fountains, this ban was not always complied with. Documents record frequent quarrels between the horse and foot sakas over access to the same fountain. It was to ensure that local people were not obstructed by sakas from obtaining water free from public fountains that a ban on sakas was incorporated into the inscriptions of some of them at the wish of the founder.
Public fountains were of two types with respect to their source of water supply. The first were supplied from sources harnessed or privately owned by individuals (vakif waters, and mülk waters), and the second were supplied from the mains system (hassa or miri waters). Although fountains varied with respect to the material they were made of, their form, and style of decoration over the centuries, they basically consisted of the same four elements: A tank in which water was stored, and which was a prominent architectural feature in early fountains. In some cases the roof of these tanks was designed to serve a dual purpose as prayer terrace or namazgah, examples being Esma Sultan Fountain in Kadirga and Abdülmecit Han Fountain in Yesilköy. A stone slab known as the musluk tasi or ayna tasi, in which the tap was fitted, and which was set inside an arched niche with decoration in the style of the day. The taps were of two types, those which ran continually known as salma, and those which could be turned off and on known as burma. An inscription carved on the ayna tasi giving the name of the person who had endowed it, and sometimes the source of the water and the date of construction. Beneath the tab was a basin known as a kurna, and to either side small raised areas where people collecting water could sit or rest their vessels while they waited. The design of these elements varied with the architectural fashions of the times, the approach to city planning, and the personal tastes of the founder. Fountains in the form of columns (Ahmet Aga Fountain built in Cengelköy in 1854) were an unusual type limited to a specific period, for example. Others were designed like the façade of a building and had a monumental effect on the urban texture (Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan Fountains in Yildiz). With the beginning of western influences on Ottoman architecture, it became common to build fountains in squares of commercial, social or ceremonial importance, often next to monumental mosques and their complexes, and situated at points where striking vistas of the city were to be obtained. These often freestanding fountains in the form of miniature pavilions had façades reflecting western architectural fashions, and clearly setting out to rival their western equivalents and to impress the viewer with the modernity and hence power of Ottoman architecture (the two Ahmet III fountains outside the Imperial Gate at Topkapi Palace and in Üsküdar respectively, Mahmud II Fountain in Tophane, and Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan Fountain in Maçka). Others were an integral part of building complexes, or formed an eye-catching feature in the façade of a building.
In line with changes in materials, form and style over the centuries, changes in the abovementioned elements of the fountains were as follows. In the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the ayna tasi which carried the tap was usually plain and set in a classical arched niche. The inscription was located above the tap, and below was the basin flanked by raised platforms. Fountains of these centuries also had water storage tanks. In the eighteenth century, when fountains built of hewn stone made way for marble, this type of façade altered, as the ayna tasi began to acquire a lavish repertoire of carved decoration, including roses, vases of flowers, and plates of fruit set in decorative arches. The formerly deep alcove niches became much shallower, and baroque style shell motifs appeared for the first time. Other changes also took place in fountain architecture in the eighteenth century. The fountain became taller, and the section bearing the inscription became a separate part of the façade, which was sometimes shaded by baroque style eaves.
The first examples of the combined sebil (kiosk for the distribution of drinking water to passers-by in cups) and fountain in a single structure appeared in the seventeenth century (Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan Fountain and Sebil, 1663), and became more common in the eighteenth century. Similarly the monumental meydan fountains-independent structures designed like pavilions-became fashionable, such as Ahmed III Fountain in front of the Imperial Gate at Topkapi Palace.
In the nineteenth century, with a more reliable supply of mains water, fountains no longer needed storage tanks, and this sparked off new designs. Among these were fountains with neo-classical façades. In the very early period most fountains had had permanently running spouts, but when the Kirkçesme system was being built during the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent taps which could be turned on and off as required were introduced, so preventing both the wastage of water and permanently muddy streets.
Fountains were diverse, both as regards their structures and their functions, and twentieth century writers on the subject have classified them in numerous different ways. Often the name of a fountain tells its own story, as in the case of the Ayrilik Cesmesi (Fountain of Departure) which was situated at the point where those accompanying the imperial procession to Mecca, the army setting out on campaign and caravans heading eastwards, and pilgrims to Mecca bade farewell to their loved ones when departing from Istanbul. Similarly, Selâmi Cesme was a fountain at another point where travellers arriving in the city were welcomed (selam meaning greeting), and also departed. Bostanci Fountain was named after the bostancibasi, the head of the security organisation which checked arrivals and departures from the city. Others referred to characteristics of the fountain itself, such as those known as Catal Cesme (fork fountain), which were usually situated at corners and had two or three faces, each with its own tap facing in a different direction. In this study they have been classified undere the following headings according to their positions and purpose.


Wall Fountains: These are fountains built into the walls of buildings, gardens or courtyards. Their storage tanks, where these exist, are located behind the wall. They are also referred to as single-face or façade fountains.These were built in various styles between the fifteenth and early twentieth centuries.


Corner Fountains: Fountains on street corners mainly had a single face in earlier centuries, but in later times examples with two or three faces were constructed. Since the corner edges were liable to get knocked and damaged by laden carts and other vehicles, these were often bevelled up to a certain height, a feature known as çalköse.


Meydan (Freestanding) Fountains: Located in squares and parade fields, this type of fountain is a freestanding building in the form of a miniature kösk or pavilion. They were an innovation of the eighteenth century and among the earliest examples of western influence on Ottoman architecture. In general they had four sides. Elaborate examples like the monumental Ahmet III Fountain outside the main entrance of Topkapi Palace built in 1728 had sebils at the corners where passers-by could drink water from cups filled by attendants, as well as taps for filling large water containers. Some of the meydan fountains had taps in a single face (such as Mahmud II Fountain in Boyaciköy dated 1837) or two faces (such as Hekimoglu Ali Pasa Meydan Fountain in Kabatas dated 1732, and Saliha Sultan Fountain in Azapkapi dated 1732).


Fountains Designed as Part of Sebils: Sebils were kiosks where water, sweetend fruit drinks known as serbet and fruit juice was distributed to passersby. The earliest example in Istanbul is Efdalzade Sebil dated 1496 (Kumbaracilar 1938; Urfalioglu 1989). Just as meydan fountains sometimes incorporated sebils, so sebils sometimes incorporated fountains, and the two types converged if the building was freestanding. The earliest surviving example of this type is the Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan Sebil and Fountain dating from 1663. This type was particularly popular in the eighteenth century, leading some researchers to regard it as a distinguishing characteristic of this period. Although the existence of an earlier example in the seventeenth century- Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan Sebil and Fountain-demonstrates that as a type it did originate prior to the eighteenth century, the fact that this is the only surviving example makes it difficult to determine how widespread such fountains were in the seventeenth century. Sebils incorporating fountains, which first appear in the seventeenth century, were usually designed with fountains to one side (Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan Sebil 1663, Sadeddin Efendi Sebil 1741, and Damat Ibrahim Pasa Sebil 1719) or on both sides (Hamidiye Sebil 1777 and Koca Ragip Pasa Sebil 1762), fountain and sebil forming a unified architectural composition. In most instances they were located at the main entrance gate to mosque complexes (Hasan Pasa Sebil 1745, Ahmediye Sebil 1721), or at prominent street corners (Besir Aga Sebil 1745) providing visual emphasis and architectural focal points in the form of a selfcontained monumental feature. With the emergence of the monumental meydan fountain in the eighteenth century, the sebil was used as an element which lent a further enrichening element to the design (Ahmed III Fountain at Topkapi Palace, 1728, and Saliha Sultan Fountain 1732).
Namazgâh Fountains: A namazgâh was an open-air prayer terrace constructed for the use both of travellers on caravan routes, and at excursion places on the outskirts of cities. Fountains next to these provided the water which worshippers needed to perform their ritual ablutions before praying and water for them and their animals to drink. There are very few surviving examples of namazgâh fountains, in which the prayer terrace was constructed on top of the fountain's storage tank (Esma Sultan Namazgâh Fountain in Kadirga, Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan Namazgâh and Abdülmecid Han Fountain in Yesilköy, Sadrazam Mehmed Pasa Fountain at Topçular between Edirnekapi and Rami, and Uzun Cesme in Kasimpasa). Our knowledge of these fountains and their architecture is limited in scope. However, from maps of Istanbul's water systems and engravings we see that fountains at halting points had broad eaves to protect those using them from rain, snow and sun, and architecturally resembled urban fountains with troughs beneath the taps. In some cases the namazgâh platform was situated on top of the fountain itself (Anadoluhisari Fountain, seventeenth century, Esma Sultan Fountain in Kadirga 1779), or the mihrap stone (indicating the direction of Mecca) was incorporated into the fountain structure (Vezir Mehmed Pasa Fountain opposite Sulukule Gate outside the city walls 1589).
Those namazgâh fountains which once existed in Istanbul and its outlying suburbs which we have been able to identify, including the few still standing, are as follows: Içler Mevkisi Namazgâh Fountain west of Atmeydani (1516), Cesmebasi Namazgâh Fountain in Bayrampasa, Vezir Mehmed Pasa Namazgâh Fountain (1589) opposite Sulukule Gate outside the city walls at the edge of the Edirnekapi-Topkapi road, Sadrazam Mehmed Pasa Namazgâh Fountain (1617) at Topçular between Edirnekapi and Rami, Kasimpasa Uzun Cesme (date uncertain), Okmeydani Namazgâh Fountain (date uncertain), the fountain beside Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan Namazgâh in Maçka (1839), Abdülmecid Han Fountain at Bezmiâlem Valide Sultan Namazgâh in Yesilköy (1842), Catal Cesme in Suadiye (1550), Toplarönü Namazgâh Fountain in Anadoluhisari (seventeenth century), Mehmed Bey Namazgâh Fountain at Sultaniye Meadow in Beykoz (1765), Ahmet Aga (Ayrilik) Fountain in Haydarpasa (1741), Selâmi Cesme Fountain in Kadiköy (1800), Sultan Mahmud II Han Namazgâh Fountain in Bostanci (1831), and Adile Sultan Fountain in Dudullu (originally built in 1730 and renovated in 1891).
Although most of the fountains built at former menzil points (halting points for caravans) in the Asian districts of Istanbul were still standing in their original locations until recent years, their namazgâh terraces have been demolished in the course of new building. The fountains which remain are often hardly noticeable, squeezed between new buildings, as in the case of Mahmud II Han Fountain in Bostanci, Ahmet Aga (Ayrilik) Fountain in Haydarpasa, and Selâmi Cesme Fountain in Kadiköy.


Indoor Fountains: Indoor fountains in palaces and mansions served multiple functions. As well as being sources of water for washing and ritual ablutions the sound of running water was a pleasant feature lending a mood of tranquility, and in addition served to prevent eavesdroppers from overhearing confidential conversations, and provided a decorative feature in the room. Indoor fountains were supplied either from the public water system, or by privately owned water lines (mülk sulari). They featured in buildings from the fifteenth century onwards.


Column Fountains: This type of fountain in the form of single columns became fashionable from the eighteenth century onwards, and examples are to be seen in diverse settings ranging from mosque courtyards to quayside squares. The earliest example is Haci Besir Aga Fountain (1737), in the courtyard of Kocamustafapasa Mosque, although the majority date from the nineteenth century. The columns sometimes had finials in the form of stylised cabbages (Cengelköy Lahana Fountain). They reflect the fact that the large water storage tanks of earlier times were no longer needed thanks to new and more reliable mains water lines which could supply the fountain tap directly. Inspiration for the column design was almost certainly of Western derivation, and probably set out to provide Istanbul with an equivalent of the monumental statues which adorned European cities. Conceptually they took over the role of the meydan fountains as striking focal points of urban squares. Examples are the Mahmud II Fountain in Tarabya (1831) and Kavacik Fountain (1837).


Selsebils: The selsebil was an ornamental cascade fountain located in gardens of grand homes. The marble basins of graduated size were set into an upright slab of stone known as the zank tasi. The water poured either into a final large basin or garden pool. These structures were not intended to supply water needs, but as a decorative architectural feature enhancing the space where they were located. Those in interior spaces, like room fountains, were intended partly to create a pleasant splashing sound of water in the room and at the same time make it possible to hold private conversations without being overheard while also serving an air conditioning function by cooling the air. Those located in the openair of pavilions and waterfront houses had similar functions, and in addition provided water for birds.


Reference: Turkish Ministry of Culture

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Fountains

uleymaniye, Istanbul. The fountain built by Sinan at the end of his garden.

Nineteenth-century engraving showing the Ahmet Fountain, Istanbul

Ahmet III Fountain, Istanbul. Detail of a cesme and a sebil

Hekimoglu Ali Pasha Complex, Istanbul. Cesme in turbe wall.

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Fountain near Cinili Kiosk. An example of Ottoman baroque at its simplest and best.

Abdulhamit II Fountain, Istanbul.

Max Spitta, Fountain. Hippodrome Square, 1900.

Raimondo D'Aronco, Fountain. Sair Ziya Pasa Caddesi-Laleli Cesme Sokagi, 1903-04.

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Overhanging roof on the Fountain of Sultan Ahmet III, Istanbul, 1728, at the entrance to the Topkapi Sarayi

The Fountain of Ahmet III.

The Harem; the Hall with a Fountain

Sinan's tomb and fountain, Istanbul.