This mosque from 1485 lies a bit hidden in a market region, I find it a bit better in architectural detail than the Ali Pasha mosque on the central square, though they are obviously related in style. It was built on order of Beyazit II, whose mosque in Amasya is among my all-time favorites. Stylistically very similar, unfortunately this one does not have the large “kulye” complex of medreses, hospital, soup kitchen and all that.

The richly decorated space above the main entrance contains (from lower to higher) the ‘kitâbe’ (= cornerstone) mentioning the Islamic date ‘hicri 890’ (=1484/85) for the mosque’s construction, an horizontal band with calligraphic Quranic verses, under a ceiling of muqarnas (stalactite vaulting, a decoration initited by the Seljuk).

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: ‘Türkye Tarihi Yerler Kılavuzu’ – M.Orhan Bayrak, Inkılâp Kitabevi, Istanbul, 1994.