An "earthly" manifestation of power: The architectural and urban contexts of Iznik tiles produced under the patronage of the Ottoman palace

Abstract

Cini-making, which is an Ottoman underglaze ceramics tradition included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, was used extensively in the monumental architecture of the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, including mosques built by the Ottoman sultans and their family members. Iznik tiles reveal undeciphered relationships between Ottoman patronage and monumental architecture, and unwritten architectural rules and norms concerning tile designs. To contribute to the conservation, interpretation, and presentation of the mosque spaces, it is important to understand the tangible and intangible cultural qualities of Iznik tiles. This study examines the cultural qualities of Iznik tiles by analysing the historical and architectural qualities of the five selected sultanic mosques and by integrating the literature and field surveys through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) modelling and database. We aim to analyse and develop an evaluation model to investigate the cultural qualities of Iznik tiles on regional, urban, and architectural scales using GIS.