A History of Ottoman Architecture

by Godfrey Goodwin

This extensively illustrated survey shows, through an analysis of style, history and religious symbolism, the Ottoman architecture to be a creative art, unique to its cultural background

Genres: History

512 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 1987

Reviews

[Geof Sage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blue 14/53. I had hoped this would have something on the Blue Mosque. Reader, it did not.

Aphantasia keeps me from truly appreciating this book. It is mostly very detailed descriptions of various mosques from ~1400 to ~1800.

The really weird thing is the author occasionally goes into poetic asides about the aesthetics, and at one point he goes into a diatribe against Karaite Jews as being fake Jews. That was weird.

Also, someone removed pp. 19-24 of this library copy inexpertly with a box cutter (damaging pp. 25-26 in the process) and more expertly removed pp. 253-254 by pulling it out of the binding. I have a great many questions.

[Selçuk Altun]

476) Godfrey Goodwin’in (1924-2005) öldüğünü iki gün sonra öğrendim! O uzun yıllar Robert Kolej’de hocalık yapmış bir Türk(iye) dostu ve Mimar Sinan fanatiğiydi. A History of Ottoman Architecture başlıklı yapıtı, Osmanlı mimarisi alanında hazırlanmış en iyi kaynak sayılır.

[A. Sacit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodwin’s impressive 512 page book on Ottoman Architecture, starting from pre-Ottoman (Selҫuk) times, elegantly interweaves historical events of the period with the construction of the relevant architectural works. Goodwin conveys that the Ottomans had been prodigious builders of lasting monuments ( mosques, palaces, castles, caravanserais, bridges, hamams, fountains, and so on) and left an enduring legacy, in spite of destruction or mutilation of many of them in the Balkans and Western Anatolia due to ethnic strife in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Grand architect Sinan’s works, such as Şehzade and Süleymaniye complexes in Istanbul and Selimiye mosque in Edirne are covered in great detail, understandably so as they are considered crowning achievements of the great architect who allegedly died on the job, at a work site at age 97.
An eBook version of this book would be a valuable travel companion, as the book is bulky and difficult to carry around.