Behramşah Mosque () is a 12th-century built mosque in

Şebinkarahisar Şebinkarahisar is a town in Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. It is the administrative seat of Şebinkarahisar District.

Giresun Province Giresun Province (Greek language, Greek : Κερασούντα, ; ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Trabzon Province, Trabzon to the east, Gümüşhane Province, Gümüşhane to the ...

, Turkey.

Location and history

Behramşah Mosque is located in Avutmuş neighborhood of

Şebinkarahisar Şebinkarahisar is a town in Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. It is the administrative seat of Şebinkarahisar District.

district of

, norther Turkey. Fahreddin Behram Shah (), the ruler of

Anatolian beylik Anatolian or anatolica may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the region Anatolia * Ancient Anatolians, Anatolians, ancient Indo-European peoples who spoke the Anatolian languages * Anatolian High School, a type of Turkish educational in ...

Mengujekids, built a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

near Şebinkarahisar in 1184 after he conquered the region. He ordered his son Muzafferüddin Muhammed to build a mosque in the town before he returned to his capital

Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...

. No inscription about the building date of the mosque exists. Scientists from Giresun University date the building of the mosque to 1184. Şebinkarahisar has been affected by large earthquakes in the past. The mosques in Şebinkarahisar have been demolished many times for various reasons and rebuilt. Behramşah Mosque was destroyed in the 16th century, and was rebuilt according to the plan tradition of its time consisting of a single-domed prayer hall and three-domed narthex. It is the oldest mosque in the region. It was damaged again during the 1939 earthquake, and was restored.

Architecture

The building has a nearly square plan with dimensions . While the northern facade is made of ashlar, other facades are constructed in

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

with thick building joints. The top of the harim is covered with a dome on an octagonal drum. The dome is covered today with tin sheet. On the north side of the harim, there is a three-eyed narthex, which is accessed through a stone staircase leading down, since the building is below the road level on the west. The sides of the narthex, which was arranged in the form of a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, were kept closed. The narthex, which opens to the outside with three pointed arches connecting two monolithic stone columns, is covered with three small domes with pendant passages. The domes are covered with tin sheets. The

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

, situated at east of the narthex, has a stone base with chamfered corners and brick body, and features a single balcony. Underside the balcony, a hedgehog-like appearance was given by arranging the bricks in different directions. There is a conical cone on the honeycomb section, which tapers and rises above the balcony. The minaret was repaired to its original state following its damage caused by an earthquake. The entrance door, located in the middle of the northern façade, has a square shape, and the entrance opening is emphasized as a niche with a pointed arch. There is a window on both sides of the door. These windows are rectangular in shape, with flat inlay stones, and have a pointed relief arch on them. Additionally, there are two more windows on the east and south facades of the building. All of the windows are rectangular in shape, with flat stone inlays and iron gratings. The western facade of the building is completely blind. There are four square-shaped windows with round arch openings in the dome drum, which is held higher than the building. The one-way mahfil located in the north of the harim is accessed by a staircase located in the east of the entrance. The mahfil, which has a pavilion section, is supported by two wooden poles in the middle. The ashlar mihrab niche has a half-round shape. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

is wooden, and was built later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behramsah Mosque Sunni mosques in Turkey Buildings and structures in Giresun Province 12th-century mosques in Europe Tourist attractions in Giresun Province Seljuk mosques in Turkey Şebinkarahisar