The İsa Bey Mosque (), constructed in 1374–75, is one of the oldest and most impressive works of architectural art remaining from the

Anatolian beyliks Anatolian beyliks (, Ottoman Turkish: ''Tavâif-i mülûk'', ''Beylik''; ) were Turkish principalities (or petty kingdoms) in Anatolia governed by ''beys'', the first of which were founded at the end of the 11th century. A second and more exte ...

. The

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

is situated on the outskirts of the Ayasluğ Hills at

Selçuk Selçuk is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 317 km2, and its population is 38,151 (2022). The town Selçuk is located northeast of the ancient city of Ephesus, that was once home to the Temple of Artemis, o ...

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

History

It was built by the Syrian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, 'Ali b. Mushaimish al-Dimashqi, in honor of the Aydinid Isa Bey. The plans for the mosque are based on the Great Mosque of Damascus. By 1829, the mosque was in ruins and by 1842 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 ...

had fallen down.Michael Greenhalgh, ''From the Romans to the Railways: The Fate of Antiquities in Asia Minor'', (Brill, 2013), 90. In the 19th century, it was also used as a

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was an inn that provided lodging for travelers, merchants, and Caravan (travellers), caravans. They were present throughout much of the Islamic world. Depending on the region and period, they were called by a ...

. There is an octagonal

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

türbe ''Türbe'' refers to a Muslim mausoleum, tomb or grave often in the Turkish-speaking areas and for the mausolea of Ottoman sultans, nobles and notables. A typical türbe is located in the grounds of a mosque or complex, often endowed by the ...

made of stone and bricks, with a

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

shaped roof, right next to the mosque.

Architecture

The mosque has two main entrances, to the east and to the west and contains a fountain court. The western wall has

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s and

geometric shape A shape is a graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, texture, or material type. In geometry, ''shape'' excludes informat ...

s engraved. These walls are covered with

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

, whereas the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

s on the remaining sides are made of cut stone. It is built asymmetrically on a base. The rims of its

domes A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, with diameters of and , are decorated with İznik (Nicaea)

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...

s. Twelve round

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s stand inside its

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

encircled with porches. Its

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

is built on an

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

al base, and the upper part from the balcony is ruined. The mosque had another minaret on the west, which is totally destroyed now. The

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', 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'' wall". ...

(niche or altar) was moved to another mosque, due to a door opened there.

Gallery

File:Isa Bey Mosque Exterior.jpg, Isa Bey Mosque Exterior view File:IsabeySelcukToraußen1.jpg, Entrance of the courtyard File:IsabeySelcukEingangGebetsraum.jpg, Entrance of the mosque File:Selcuk 3.jpg, Interior of the mosque File:Ephesos Ayasoluk Isa Bey Mosque.svg, Plan

Notes

References

*Bayrak, Orhan M. (1994). p. 407, ''Türkiye Tarihi Yerler Rehberi'' (expanded 3rd edition). İnkılâp Kitabevi. .

External links