Ablution Fountain at the Grand Mosque of Bursa
The Grand Mosque of Bursa is one of the major landmarks in the city of Bursa. There are several of these monuments in the city which are related to the birth of the Ottoman Empire which led it to being included in the UNESCO World Heritage sites. The mosque was built when it was the capital of the empire and you can tell that this mosque used an old type of architecture. Upon entering the mosque you can basically see everything here. Like most mosques, the Grand Mosque of Bursa has an open plan. This makes it easy to see the rest of the mosque.
Inside the Grand Mosque of Bursa
Compared to the other mosques that I saw. The Grand Mosque of Bursa has an ablution fountain in the center. These are used by the faithful to wash and purify themselves. This is probably the first time I have seen an ablution fountain which is inside the mosque. I thought that the point of the ablution was to cleanse people before the enter the mosque. Maybe this was an older style of mosque and eventually the fountains all migrated outside of the building. The interior of the mosque, while simple, is decorated with the calligraphy from some well known calligraphers at that time. Ultimately, I didn’t really stay very long here in the mosque. There were still a lot of people inside and there were also kids just running around here. I guess that sort of thing is accepted here.
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