Baltacı Mehmet Paşa Fountains
The Baltacı Mehmet Paşa Fountains are among the charitable works that Grand Vizier Baltacı Mehmet Paşa, said to have come from Osmancık, left to his hometown. The Osmancık District Governorate’s history page also lists these fountains among the district’s principal historic structures.
History
Baltacı Mehmet Paşa was an Ottoman statesman who served more than once as Grand Vizier under Sultan Ahmed III; Osmancık Municipality’s website presents him as an “Osmancık-born Grand Vizier.” According to Osmancık Municipality, during his first term as Grand Vizier the paşa commissioned four separate fountains, one in the name of each of the four caliphs; for this reason, locals also refer to them as the “Four Caliphs’ Fountains.” Leaving such an endowment behind was typical of the era’s tradition among senior statesmen of marking their hometowns. Of these four fountains, only one has survived to the present in reasonably sound condition, of another only the inscription remains, and no trace has been found of the other two.
According to the inscription on the surviving fountain, it was built in the year 1117 of the Hijri calendar, corresponding to 1705 CE.
Architecture
The surviving fountain stands in Osmancık’s Ulu Camii neighborhood, across from the Büyük Cami (Grand Mosque). It is built of cut stone; over time, as the street level was raised, the lower part of the structure became buried up to the arch springers. A tangent-pointed arch frames the single-spout basin from above, and the inscription is set above this arch, centered on the pediment. The covering is flat, topped with a projecting cornice.
The inscription measures 0.90 by 0.75 meters and is carved into marble; it is arranged in three columns, each of six lines.
Of the four fountains Baltacı Mehmet Paşa commissioned, only the inscription of another has survived; though it bears the same text, it is now set into a wall at the site of a now-enclosed fountain at Osmancık’s Şeyh Hasan Mosque. No trace remains of the other two fountains.
Location and Related Places
Standing in Osmancık’s historic core in the same neighborhood as the Büyük Cami, the fountain is easy to see while touring the district’s central historic buildings. Those wishing to get a fuller picture of Osmancık’s Ottoman-era heritage may also visit the Koyun Baba Bridge, Osmancık Castle (Kandıber Castle) and History of Osmancık pages. For a general introduction to the district, see the Osmancık district page.