The Fossati brothers, Gaspare and Giuseppe, were Swiss architects. They completed more than 50 projects in Turkey during the Tanzimat era. They belonged to the Morcote branch of the Fossati, a prominent Ticinese family with mentions in the historical record going back to the 14th century. Gaspari was a superb draftsman, and a master of renovations. He is most noted for his renovation of the Hagia Sofia in Constantinople, which virtually saved it from destruction.
Biography
Born in Ticino, Gaspari and Giuseppe Fossati were born into a notable family of artisans from Morcote in the Ticino region. Their ancestors included architects, artists and engineers. The brothers finished primary and middle school in Venice and studied architecture at the Brera Academy in Milan. During his period at the Academy, Gaspari won many prizes. Between 1829 and 1831, Gaspare produced many lithographs of Rome, and produced a catalogue for Leon XII. In around 1833, Gasapari began working for the architectural team of Luigi Rusca in Saint Petersburg, and in 1837, he married Rusca's daughter. At the end of 1836, Gaspare was appointed to Constantinople, becoming the official court architect and agreed to draw up plans for the Russian Embassy in Constantinople. He recruited his brother-in-law, Alessandro Rusca, and his own 17 year old brother, Guissepe Fossati. He set sail from Odessa, arriving in Constantinople on 20 March 1837. The Fossati brothers' time in Constantinople would mark the beginning of a very productiver period, and Gaspare would enjoy a distinguished career there. Between 1841 and 1843, the Fossati brothers built the brick Bab-ı SeraskeriHospital and Liman İskelesi Karakolu in Eminönü for the Ottoman Administration. They were appointed to renovate Arzuodası at Babıali in 1844, and to build important buildings in Sultanahmet such as Dârülfünun , Hazine-i Evrak, and Mekteb-i Sanayi. They also built the Church of SS Peter and Paul between 1841 and 1843. In 1847, Sultan Abdülmecid appointed them to renovate the Hagia Sophia. They completed the restoration in two years, utilizing more than eight hundred workers. They were able to document a larger number of Byzantine mosaics whose precise location within the Hagia Sophia today have not been fully documented since many were either painted over or destroyed often without recording their original location. The drawings of the Hagia Sophia mosaics are kept in the Cantonal Archive of Ticino. Sultan Abdülmecid allowed the brothers to also document any mosaics they might discover during this process which were later archived in Swiss libraries. The Telgrafhane-i Amire building was built by Giuseppe Fossati in 1855. Upon the death of Reşit Paşa in 1858, the Fossati brothers built his mausoleum in the corner of the graveyard in the Bayezit complex. They also renovated Venedik Palace in 1853, and the Dutch Embassy in Beyoğlu in 1854. They built the Spanish and Iranian embassies in Istanbul and the Ottomon University, adjacent to the Hagia Sofia. In addition, they built three Italian theaters. One of them was the Naum Theatre, which was built in Galatasaray in 1846, and destroyed by a fire in 1870. In 1858, the Fossati brothers returned to Switzerland. They built their homes in Morcote in the Turkish style. They are buried in Morcote.
