Sivrihisar Grand Mosque ( tr, Sivrihisar Ulu Camii) is a historical mosque in

Sivrihisar Sivrihisar ( tr, Sivrihisar, "a pointed castle") is a town and district of Eskişehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to 2010 census, population of the district is 23 488 of which 9,817 live in the town of Sivrihisar. ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. The mosque is located in Sivrihisar

ilçe The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the ''kaza''. Most provinces bear the same name as their respectiv ...

(district) of

Eskişehir Province Eskişehir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Bilecik to the northwest, Kütahya to the west, Afyon to the southwest, Konya to the south, Ankara to the east, and Bolu to the north. The provincial ...

. It was built by Leşker Emir Celaleddin Ali in 1231–1232 during the reign of Anatolian Seljuk Sultan

Kayqubad I Alā ad-Dīn Kayqubād ibn Kaykhusraw ( fa, علاء الدين كيقباد بن كيخسرو; tr, I. Alâeddin Keykûbad, 1190–1237), also known as Kayqubad I, was the Seljuq Sultan of Rûm who reigned from 1220 to 1237. He expanded the ...

(r. 1220–1237). It saw later two restorations, in 1275 by Eminüddin Mikail bin Abdullah, the

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Kaykhusraw III Kaykhusraw III ( 1ca, كَیخُسرو سوم) or Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Qilij Arslān ( fa, غياث الدين كيخسرو بن قلج ارسلان; – 1284) was between two and six years old when in 1265 he was named Seljuq Su ...

(r. 1265–1284), and in 1440 by Hızır Bey, a judge in Sivrihisar and later the first judge in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. The mosque is a rare example of wooden-columned architectural technique in Anatolia together with four others. The ground area of the mosque is . It has a rectangular plan. The outer walls are of

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

. It has four entrances. Marble inscriptions showing the historical restoration dates are found on the northern and eastern gates. The roof is covered by tiles, which were replaced by lead sheet not long ago. The roof is carried by 67 wooden columns in the inside, of which upper parts are decorated by painted mostly in green, red and black colors engravings of traditional figures. Some columns stand on stone base having ancient column head. It is likely that the stone columns heads originate from

Pessinus Pessinus ( el, Πεσσινούς or Πισσινούς) was an Ancient city and archbishopric in Asia Minor, a geographical area roughly covering modern Anatolia (Asian Turkey). The site of the city is now the modern Turkish village of Ballıhisa ...

, an ancient city known as Ballıhisar today close to Sivrihisar. There are six naves in east-west direction. The middle naves are higher than the others resembling the historic Turkic tents used in the nomadic era the Central Asia. The mosque's

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 ...

, 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, access ...

, is a masterwork made by Horasanlı İbni Mehmet in 1245, and is famous for its ornaments in geometrical and floral design engraved in walnut wood. It is believed that the minbar was brought here from the Sivrihisar Kılıç Masjid, which was demolished in 1924. The

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

was added by Osman oğlu Hacı Habib in 1409–1410 according to its inscription.

World Heritage Site status

This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Tentative List on April 13, 2016 in the Cultural category.

Gallery

File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 2041.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Exterior side File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1011.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque entrance File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1013.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Foundation stones File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1014.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque entrance File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1114.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque entrance File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 2054.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Interior general view File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 2055.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Interior general view File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1127.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Interior File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1131.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Interior with balcony File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 2047.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Interior File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1183.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Interior roof and balcony File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1180.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Minbers stairs File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1175.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Minber side File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1148.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Minber side File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1120.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Minber detail File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1165.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Minber doors detail File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1169.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Minber doors detail File:Sivrihisar Ulu Camii 1178.jpg, Sivrihisar Grand Mosque Interior woodwork

References

{{Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey Mosques in Eskişehir Sultanate of Rum Seljuk mosques in Turkey World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Sivrihisar District

Mosques completed in 1232