Hobyar Mosque

The structure, also known as the Hobyar, Hubyar or Great Post Office Mosque, located in the Sirkeci district of Eminönü, was first built in 1473 by Hoca Hubyar. However, the mosque, which fell into disrepair over time, was built while the Great Post Office Building was being built, and the current mosque, designed by Architect Vedat (Tek) together with the Great Post Office building, was built.

The mosque, which bears the traces of the First National Architecture movement, has a single dome, is quite small and has two parts in terms of architecture. The current entrance to the Hobyar Mosque, which does not have a courtyard because it is on the street, is an annex built later. The second domed space that you pass through after entering the mosque is the main mosque.

The four corners of the mosque, which has a square plan of 7.5 × 7.5 m., are chamfered to the extent of giving the structure the impression of an octagonal prism, and it is covered with an octagonal cone resembling an onion dome with wide eaves, creating a tower-building type appearance specific to Indian architecture. On top of the lead-covered cone, a carved page finial in the style of a fountain-shadirvan finial rising on a large pear draws attention. The building shows similarities with the Büyük Postane, which is one of the examples that best reflects the selective architectural character of the period in terms of plan and façade arrangement, behind which it is located, especially in terms of the use of tile decorations on the façade. The large windows with pointed arches and iron lattices opened on the side faces of the mosque are surrounded by Kütahya tile borders with eight-pointed star motifs in blue-navy colors, and the sections between the upper borders and the arches of the windows are decorated with palmette and rumi motifs in blue-navy blue and yellow colors. In addition, the use of tile panels with the inscription "elhamdulillah" in (pah) Kufic script on the windowless faces has enriched the façades a little more. In contrast to this rich decoration seen on the outside, simplicity is striking inside. There is nothing on the walls painted entirely in whitewash except the tablets of Allah, Muhammad, Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and Ali. The plaster mihrab is painted with oil paint to give the appearance of marble.