On the right and left are two high brick mináreh, and at that of the Mehkemeh-gate is a fountain (jet d’eau), the water of which comes from Mount Olympus, but it is now in ruins, the pipes having become decayed by age. When it rains the water collects in the basin of this fountain on the top of the Mináreh, and the birds flock hither to drink. In short there is no more holy mosque than this in Brússa; it is the Ayá Sofía of Brússa, and has therefore been described the first, but the first consecrated in chronological order, was that of Orkhán in the upper castle.
The Mosque of Khodavendkiár, or Sultán Murád I.
On the west side of Brússa at half an hour’s distance, in a separate suburb called Eski Kaplijah is Sultán Murád’s mosque, built in a peculiar style, because the architect was a Frank. The lower part is devoted to worship, the upper devoted to science, is distributed into rooms for students, so that each may follow the Imám’s directions at prayer. The length from the Kiblah to the mihráb is one hundred feet, and the breadth seventy feet. On one of the columns appears a falcon, which having been recalled by Sultán Murád I. and not obeying, was by his curse changed into stone. This mosque has one gate, and a mináreh one story high, but no courtyard.
Description of the Mosque of Sultán Báyazíd I.
It is a small mosque, situate on the East side of Brússa, surrounded by fields and gardens, and not much frequented on account of its distance from the town; it is one hundred and fifty feet long and one hundred in width, in the old simple style, and remained unfinished during the war of Timúr, but was completed by Mússa Ilderím’s son.
The Mosque of Mohammed I.
This celebrated and elegant mosque, known by the name of Yeshil Imáret (the green building) entirely built of marble, stands upon a hill on the East side of Brússa, and has two cupolas without columns, one hundred and eight feet long and eighty feet in width. It is impossible to give an idea of the mihráb (altar) and minber (pulpit) because the carving is beyond all conception; the only gate is also ornamented with such elegant arabesque carvings, that they could not be represented finer even by the pen on Chinese paper. The stone-cutter who worked this gate, spent full three years on it, during which he received forty thousand ducats from Mohammed I. as is generally reported; in short, there is no mosque of more elegant and exquisite workmanship in the world. The reason of its being named the green building, arises from the cupola and the mináreh being covered with green fayence which radiates like emeralds in sunshine. Tall plane trees surround the outside. I saw no finer mosque in Brússa, and other travellers say no where else.
Description of the Mosque of Murád II. the son of Mohammed I.
On the west side of the town is a certain suburb composed of this mosque and its appurtenances of colleges, kháns and gardens. The builder was Murád II. the son of Mohammed I. and father of Mohammed II. who died at Adrianople and was buried here. It is a holy mosque and has two cupolas. From the gate of the Kiblah to the mihráb the length is one hundred and fifty feet, the width sixty. The (mihráb) altar, (minber) pulpit and station of the Muëzzins (mahfil) are in the ancient simple style, built in the year 850 (1446). Tall plane-trees adorn the courtyard. Many Princes of the Ottoman family are buried here.