Showing 1-11 of 11 results
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Adalet Kasrı
Standing near the ugly modern stadium in Sarayiçi, the Adalet Kasrı (Justice Hall; 1561) is a stone tower with a conical roof that dates from the time of Süleyman the Magnificent. In front of it are two stones: on the Seng-i Hürmet (Stone of Respect) people would place petitions to the sultan, while the Seng-i İbret (Stone of Warning) would display the heads of any high-court officers who had offended the sultan.
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Contemporary Art & Sculpture Museum
Housed in the beautiful Ikinci Beyazit Külliyesi complex is the Contemporary Art & Sculpture Museum which, while not wildly exciting, is worth a quick look to see what sort of thing the local talent is turning out.
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Edirne Sarayı
Behind the Justice Hall is a small bridge. Cross it and to the left (opposite the museum) the path winds past the scattered and scant ruins of the Edirne Sarayı. Begun by Sultan Beyazıt II in 1450, this palace once rivalled İstanbul's Topkapı Palace in size and luxury, although you'd be hard-pressed even to visualise it now.
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Erdine Museum
Erdine Museum is opposite the Selimiye Camii to the north, with a garden of gravestones in front. The grounds contain all kinds of jars, sculptures, dolmens and menhirs (standing stones), as well as replicas of the sort of wattle-and-daub huts that may have been used by Thrace's Stone Age inhabitants.
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Ikinci Beyazit Külliyesi
This is Edirne's last great imperial mosque, and it was built by the Ottoman architect Hayrettin for Sultan Beyazıt II (r 1481-1512) between 1484 and 1488. In style, the mosque lies midway between the Üçşerefeli and Selimiye designs: its large prayer hall has one large dome, similar to the Selimiye, and it also has a courtyard and fountain like the earlier Üçşerefeli. It stands in splendid isolation to the north of Edirne, which means you get wonderful, uninterrupted views of it as you approach.
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Museum of Health
The darüşşifa (hospital) of the Ikinci Beyazit Külliyesi mosque complex has been converted into the award-winning Museum of Health and is well worth a look. Although most of the exhibits are labelled only in Turkish, some of the recreated old rooms are fascinating, particularly the in-patients room illustrating treatment techniques - a surprisingly enlightened selection of quasi-New Age concepts such as music, scent therapy and, yes, basket-weaving.
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Sarayiçi
Translated as 'Inner Palace', Sarayiçi is actually a scrub-covered island that was once the private hunting reserve of the Ottoman sultans. Today it's the site of the famous Kırkpınar oil-wrestling matches.
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Selimiye Mosque
It's impossible to miss the Selimiye Mosque, Edirne's grandest and most central mosque, designed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. Constructed for Sultan Selim II (r 1566-74) and finished just after his death, it is smaller but more elegant than Sinan's tremendous Süleymaniye Camii (1557) in İstanbul, and it's said that Sinan himself considered it his finest work.
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Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Hamam
Across the street from the Üçşerefeli Cami mosque is the atmospheric, unrestored Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Hamam, designed by Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmet Paşa in the 16th century. Some people may find a visit to the unrestored women's side a little too 'authentic' for comfort.
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Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum
One of the Selimiye Mosque's medreses (seminaries) houses the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum, which has a variety of stone inscriptions and early Ottoman artefacts, plus a display on oil wrestling.
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Urban History Museum
Housed in the restored Hafızağa Mansion, a particularly fine 19th-century wooden Ottoman villa, the small new Urban History Museum has poster displays on Edirne's historic buildings, local governors, and some old postcards. As there are currently no English captions it's not an essential stop for visitors, but the house itself is nice and offers great views onto the west side of the Selimiye Mosque (across a car park).
Showing 1-11 of 11 results
