Şemsi Pasha

Who is Şemsi Pasha?

Şemsi Ahmet Pasha was a prominent Ottoman nobleman and statesman who occupied numerous high-ranking political posts, serving at different stages as the Ottoman governor of Damascus, Rûm, Sivas, Anatolia and Rumelia, and subsequently succeeding Sokollu Mehmet Pasha as grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire in 1579. Paternally, he was a direct descendant of Khalid ibn al-Walid, the celebrated commander whose armies conquered Syria at the time of Muhammad in the 7th century. His mother was the granddaughter of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I, Ayşe Hümaşah Sultan.

Raised in the Imperial residence of the period, Topkapı Palace, as Grand Vizier, he charged renowned court architect Mimar Sinan with the task of building a mosque and adjoining complex near his main seat, the Şemsi Pasha Palace on the Bosphorus shoreline in Constantinople. The Şemsi Pasha Mosque is one of the smallest mosques to be commissioned by a Grand Vizier, and yet it is one of the most well-known mosques in city, due to a combination of its miniature dimensions and its waterfront location. It is mentioned as a chief example of Mimar Sinan's skill in organically blending architecture with the natural landscape.