Dome

View of a window with metal mesh (latticework); The great square fountain is a Rococo building in front of the palace gate that was built under Sultan Ahmed III in 1728. It was a social centre and gathering place. Each of the four façades contain a drinking fountain (cesme), flanked by niches and decorated in low relief with foliate and floral designs. On each corner is a triple-grilled sebil (water tank from which an attendant issued cups of water from behind a grille). Above the drinking fountains is an elegant frieze with a long poem in calligraphy, dedicated to water, framed in blue and red bands. The roof is formed by a central dome, rising from an octagonal drum, and a little turret on each of the four corners. The ceiling is elaborately panelled. "Fuelled by the enthusiastic reports of Mehmed Yermisekiz Celebi (d 1732), ambassador plenipotentiary to the French court, the Ottomans avidly adopted European styles. Ahmed is also known for building fountains in the capital city. With their characteristic Tulip Period decoration of marble low reliefs carved with images of vases of flowers and spiralling rinceaux, and the delicate silhouettes of their wide eaves and tiny decorative domes, they include the large fountain building (1728-1729) at the gate of Topkapı Palace." Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 1/22/2008)