Hasırcılar Caddesi (Mat Weavers Street)

Hasırcılar Caddesi is an ancient commercial street in Istanbul's Tahtakale district, renowned for its rich trading history and the elevated 1563 Rüstem Pasha Mosque decorated with exquisite Iznik tiles. The area hosted Istanbul's first coffeehouses around 1554, and in 1871 Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi began selling pre-roasted ground coffee nearby. Above the street's vaulted shops, Grand Vizier Rüstem Pasha commissioned architect Mimar Sinan to create the tile-rich mosque.

Istanbul · from the walk “Sultans, Spices & Hidden Streets” · audio ~3 min · Generated

Hasırcılar Cd., Tahtakale, Fatih, İstanbul

Which historic mosque decorated with Iznik tiles sits above Hasırcılar Caddesi in Istanbul?

Take a deep breath. You're standing on Hasircilar Caddesi... and you can probably smell it before you see it. Cinnamon, sumac, roasted coffee, old stone. This narrow lane once hummed with the rhythmic slap of straw against wood, as mat weavers lined both sides, selling handwoven rush mats to merchants and mosque-goers across the Ottoman Empire. The name Hasircilar literally means "the mat weavers." Today, the straw is gone... replaced by towers of kitchen pots, pyramids of spice, and the constant chatter of trade.......... But this neighborhood, Tahtakale, is one of the oldest commercial hearts in all of Istanbul. Did you know that the very First coffeehouses in this city opened right here in Tahtakale, around fifteen fifty-four? Coffee had just arrived from Yemen, brought by the Ottoman governor Ozdemir Pasha, and suddenly, this district became the epicenter of a drink that would conquer the world.......... And that rich aroma hitting you right now? That's likely drifting from Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, just around the corner. Born in eighteen fifty-seven, Mehmet Efendi took over his father's spice shop and in eighteen seventy-one became the First person in Istanbul to sell roasted and ground coffee directly to the public. Before him, everyone bought raw beans and roasted them at home. His little shop revolutionized Turkish coffee culture, and it's still here... over one hundred and fifty years later.......... Now, here's the secret most people walk right past. Look for a narrow stone staircase tucked between the shops. It leads UP... to one of the most breathtaking interiors in the entire city. The Rustem Pasha Mosque, designed by the legendary architect Mimar Sinan, completed around fifteen sixty-three. It sits on a raised platform Above a complex of vaulted shops, whose rents were designed to fund the mosque itself. Genius urban planning from five centuries ago.......... The man who commissioned it, Rustem Pasha, was Grand Vizier to Suleyman the Magnificent and married to the sultan's daughter, Mihrimah Sultan. He was of Croatian origin, taken as a child to Constantinople, where he climbed to the highest ranks of the Empire. But he was deeply unpopular. His enemies tried to stop the royal wedding by spreading rumors that he had leprosy! Court doctors examined him and found... only lice. He married the princess anyway, amassed enormous wealth, and his rivals forever mocked him as "Kehle-i Ikbal"... the Louse of Fortune.......... That fortune, however, paid for the most Lavish display of Iznik tiles in any mosque Sinan ever built. No other mosque uses them so extravagantly. Tulips, carnations, hyacinths, in deep cobalt blue and rare coral red... red was the hardest and most expensive color to produce on tile work. Every surface, from floor to dome, shimmers.......... So look up from the spice bags and cooking pots. Find those stairs. What waits above this street is a jewel box hiding in plain sight.

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