Alaeddin Mosque, also known as Alaaddin Mosque ( or ''Alaaddin Camii'') is a historic mosque in

Odunpazarı Odunpazarı (literally "firewood market" in Turkish language, Turkish) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Eskişehir Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,120 km², and its population is 422,423 (2022), 47% of the provincial popu ...

district of

Eskişehir Province Eskişehir Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in northwestern Turkey. Its area is 13,960 km2, and its population is 906,617 (2022). Its adjacent provinces are B ...

, Turkey. Alaeddin Mosque is situated in Alaeddin Park at Odunpazarı, Eskişehir. According to an inscription at the base of its

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 ...

, it was built in 1267, during the reign of Seljuq Sultan of Rûm Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev III (reigned 1265–1284). It was donated by Cacaoğlu Cibril or Cacaoğlu Nureddin, a follower of

Mevlana Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empi ...

. It is so one of the oldest buildings in Eskişehir. The almost-quadratic rectangular-plan mosque is 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 ...

. 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 -diameter dome sits in the middle of the flat wooden roof. Entrance to the mosque is at the northern side. A wooden staircase leads to the women's section in the upper floor. The dome's interior is adorned with

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

verses at its border. 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". ...

is placed in a niche in the south of the mosque, and features late Ottoman architectural style. The mosque is brightened by big rectangular windows. Two-level window layout is applied at the north and lateral facades, at the women's section and the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

. The building completely lost its original construction properties after several restorations. A major alteration took place in 1945. The mosque was closed to worship by a cabinet decree, and was used as an archaeological museum until the establishment of the

Eskişehir Eti Archaeology Museum Eskişehir Eti Archaeology Museum, a.k.a. Eskişehir Archaeology Museum (), is a national archaeology museum in Eskişehir, Turkey. It was established in 1974. Location The museum is located in the center of Eskişehir on Atatürk Boulevard at . T ...

. The mosque was restored lately in 2014.

References

{{Mosques in Turkey Seljuk mosques in Turkey Buildings and structures completed in 1267 Mosques completed in the 1260s Odunpazarı Buildings and structures in Eskişehir Province