Adile Sultan Türbesi

Adile Sultan Türbesi is an architectural structure located at the end of Bostan İskelesi Street in the Eyüpsultan district of Istanbul, built in the mid-19th century and containing the tombs of members of the Ottoman dynasty and state officials.

^Sandukalar (Eyüpsultan Belediyesi)

The structure is situated to the left of Hüseyin Paşa Türbesi and directly opposite the Hüseyin Paşa Library.^【1】

The area where the türbe stands is historically known for its proximity to Bostan İskelesi, the pier where the sultans’ ceremonial boats docked upon arriving in Eyüp by sea. In earlier periods, a coffeehouse and a column-shaped fountain belonging to Hüseyin Paşa were located in the immediate vicinity of the building.^【2】

The türbe has a facade clad in yellow Afyon marble and is decorated with four corner columns featuring Ionic capitals embedded into the walls. The entrance features a cast iron latticed door, above which is a cast iron tuğra dated 1266 (1849) belonging to Sultan Abdülmecid.^【3】

In terms of plan, the structure consists of two domed tomb chambers on either side of the entrance. The facades of these chambers facing the street feature large cast iron latticed windows. Behind the main structure lies the türbedar room.^【4】

Born on 30 May 1826 as the daughter of Sultan Mahmud II and Zernigâr Kadın, Adile Sultan was raised by Nev-Fidan Kadın after her mother’s death. In 1845 she married Mehmed Ali Paşa. After the deaths of her husband and daughter Hayriye Hanım Sultan, she joined the Nakşibendi order and adopted a reclusive lifestyle, establishing the tradition of spending Ramadan each year in seclusion at the Kadınlar Mescidi. Adile Sultan, who showed great interest in education and literature, is the only woman poet in the Ottoman dynasty to have held a seat in the Divan. She died in 1898 at the age of 75; however, the inscription on the plaque in front of her sarcophagus records her date of death as 12 February 1899 (1 Şevval 1316).^【5】

Mehmed Ali Paşa, the other prominent figure after whom the türbe is named, held the office of Kaptan-ı Derya six times and served once as Grand Vizier. At the time of the türbe’s construction in 1849, he was serving as Serasker. He died on 29 June 1868 (8 Rebiülevvel 1285) and was buried in the large sarcophagus located in the chamber to the right of the türbe.^【6】

Two separate chambers within the structure house sarcophagi belonging to members of the dynasty and their families:

• Right Tomb Chamber: This chamber contains six sarcophagi belonging to Mehmed Ali Paşa, Adile Sultan, and their children Sıdıka, Aliye, İsmail Bey, and Hayriye Hanım Sultan.
• Left Tomb Chamber: This section contains the burials of Resan Hanım, wife of Sultan Murad V (d. 1910), and their daughters Aliyye Sultan (d. 1903) and Fatma Aliye Sultan. Additionally, an empty burial space is present in this chamber.^【7】

The türbe contains various inscriptions reflecting the literary and biographical characteristics of its time. Mehmed Ali Paşa’s sarcophagus plaque lists his state offices and date of death. A poem composed by the poet İsmet Efendi in memory of Adile Sultan, dated 1316, is mounted on the walls. Additionally, Adile Sultan’s work titled “İftiraknâme,” expressing her grief over the 1869 death of her daughter Hayriye Hanım Sultan, is recorded in historical sources.^【8】