Rustem Paşa Mosque

The Rüstem Pasha Mosque in Istanbul's Eminönü district by the Golden Horn, is among the city's architectural gems—yet seen by few foreign visitors.
This is the first example of the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan building a mosque to an octagonal plan.
Although small, it is beautifully proportioned, and the interior is covered in some of the most exquisite Iznik faience ever produced.
Rüstem Pasha (1500-1561), a Bosnian by birth, was the son-in-law and a grand vezir of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-1566).
Although the pasha was among the wealthiest men in the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power and glory, as the sultan's humble servant, it was not Rüstem's place to build a grand mosque that might rival that of his imperial master. So he selected a site in the midst of the market, at the foot of the hill crowned by Süleyman's grand mosque.
Instead of size and grandeur, Rüstem sought exquisite artistic refinement, and that's what he got.