Architectural Structure and Functions of the Külliye of Sofu Mehmed Paşa in Sofia with a Special Focus on its Medrese and Kütüphane

Year 2023, Issue: 60 - December 2023, 23 - 39, 30.12.2023

Paulina Andonova

https://doi.org/10.16971/vakiflar.1319598

Abstract

During the Ottoman rule, especially in its early centuries, high-ranking officers founded large waqf establishments which provided free education, health care and protection and served as poor-relief social institutions. One of these multifunctional complexes which served the whole Muslim community was founded in the center of the European province Rumeli by Sofu Mehmed Paşa, an Ottoman governor during the reign of Sultan Süleyman I. The waqf külliye in Sofia, designed by the great architect Mimar Sinan, comprised a Friday Mosque, a medrese with a manuscript library, a caravanserai and guest-houses, a bath-house, a hospice, a public kitchen, a bakery with storerooms. Various archival sources from the 17th - mid-19th centuries, provided rich data about its role in the economic, socio-cultural development and everyday life of the population and the guests of Sofia. The available data also enables Sofu Mehmed Paşa’s medrese and its significance in the Ottoman education system to be examined.

Keywords

Sofu Mehmed Pasha, medrese, manuscript library, külliye, Sofia

Sofya'daki Sofu Mehmed Paşa medrese ve kütüphane

Abstract

Osmanlı idaresi döneminde, özellikle bu idarenin ilk yüzyıllarında, üst düzey yetkililer kentlerde belirli
kişilere ücretsiz eğitim, koruma ve barınma sağlayan büyük vakıflar kurmuşlardır. Bu vakıflar kentsel
yerleşim yerlerin sosyal ve ekonomik hayatında önemli rol oynamaktadırlar. Bunların arasında Kanuni
Sultan Süleyman döneminde (1520-1566) bir Osmanlı valisi olan Sofu Mehmed Paşa tarafından Sofya’da kurulan külliye de vardır. Ünlü Mimar Sinan tarafından tasarlanmış bu külliye cuma cami, medrese,
medreseye bağlı kütüphane, kervansaray, hamam, bir darülaceze, bir imaret mutfağı ve depoları ile bir
fırından oluşuyordu. 17’nci yüzyıldan 19’uncu yüzyılın ortalarına kadar uzanan çeşitli arşiv kaynakları, bu
külliyenin Sofya’nın ekonomik ve sosyo-kültürel gelişimi, halkın günlük yaşamındaki rolü ve Sofya’ya gelen misafirler hakkında zengin veriler sunmaktadır. Bu kaynaklardan elde edilen bilgiler, Sofu Mehmed
Paşa’nın hem medresesinin hem de medresenin Osmanlı eğitim sistemindeki öneminin incelenmesine
de olanak sağlamaktadır.

Keywords

Sofu Mehmed, kütüphane, külliye, medrese, Sofya

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