__NOTOC__ Ermenek Grand Mosque ( tr, Ermenek Ulucamii) is located on the outskirts of Ermenek Castle on an outcrop that overlooks the city of Ermenek. The mosque was built by Mahmud Bey of the

Karamanids The Karamanids ( tr, Karamanoğulları or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman ( tr, Karamanoğulları Beyliği), was one of the Anatolian beyliks, centered in South-Central Anatolia around the present-day Karaman Pro ...

in 1302AD (702AH), as inscribed in Sülüs-style calligraphy on the original door wings between the antechamber and the prayer hall. These 14th-century Karamind-era wooden door wings have since been removed for preservation and posterity and are exhibited at the Sahip Ata Museum in

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

. From an architectural perspective, the mosque consists of a rectangular

hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or un ...

(pillar-supported) prayer hall with three transverse arched naves extending from west to east, and is the first example of a Turkish mosque with a narthex gallery, a form of antechamber, between the outer doors and the prayer hall. The structure is unusual in not having its main entrance and narthex to the north of the mosque (opposite the

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

to the south), but to its west. Several times throughout its history the mosque was altered through renovations and repair work, including expansion works in 950AD, repairs in 1125AD and 1324AD, and other changes and repairs during the Ottoman period. The mosque also now has a wooden minaret that was added later.

Gallery

Ermenek Ulu Cami 5105.jpg, Front view of the mosque and its narthex Ermenek Ulu Cami 5119.jpg, Calligraphy on a door within the mosque Ermenek Ulu Cami 5109.jpg, Detail on the wooden

minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...

Ermenek Ulu Cami 5107.jpg, A prayer alcover or

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Turkey Islam in Turkey Mosques in Turkey

Gallery

See also

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External links