Beçin (also known as Berçin or Peçin) was a historical fort in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.
Geography
Beçin is situated on a low hill just south west of a modern village bearing the same name, in
Milas
Milas is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,067 km2, and its population is 147,416 (2022). The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient rema ...
ilçe
The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''.
Most provinces bear the s ...
(district center) of
Muğla Province
Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...
at . Its distance to Milas is and to
Muğla
Muğla () is a city in southwestern Turkey. The city is the center of the district of Menteşe, Muğla, Menteşe and Muğla Province, which stretches along Turkey's Aegean Sea, Aegean coast. Muğla's center is situated inland at an altitude of ...
is .
History
The site has remains from the Hellenistic period, including a 4th-century temple. A
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
church indicates the settlement continued to exist into the medieval period - though its minor importance is suggested by the small dimensions of the church. According to a contemporary Italian source its name was ''Pezona''.
[Unesco page](_blank)
/ref> Towards the end of the 13th century it was captured by the Menteşe Beylik, a principality founded by a Turkmen tribe. Beçin became the capital of the beylik and it expanded rapidly in size. In 1333 Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...
visited Beçin, described it as a newly founded city, and mentioned its houses and mosques. The majority of the surviving monuments originate from the 14th century. In the 15th century the beylik of Menteşe was annexed by the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. An indication of the town's subsequent decay is revealed in Evliya Çelebi
Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...
's account of his visit there in the middle of the 17th century: he wrote that the town did not have a hammam
A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...
, yet excavations have revealed the remains of five hammams. A settlement continued to exist inside the site until the 1980s.
Monuments
The Ahmet Gazi Madrasa, named after the Bey who commissioned it, dates from 1375 according to the Arabic inscription above its entrance. The entrance portal, while retaining the components of a traditional Seljuk-era portal, has details that resemble European Gothic architecture, possibly indicating an influence deriving from the Menteşe Beylik's commercial activities with the Aegean islands, Italy and southern France (the Bey is described as "Sultan of the Coasts" in the inscription). Modern reconstruction work has rebuilt large sections of the entrance façade on each side of its portal. The madrasa has eight chambers and two iwan
An iwan (, , also as ''ivan'' or ''ivān''/''īvān'', , ) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...
s, opening directly onto a rectangular central courtyard (the usual portico is not present here). The grave of Ahmet Gazi is located in the main iwan, an adjoining grave may be that of another Menteşe ruler - Shujaeddin Bey.
Kizil Han or Kızılhan ("Red Khan"), a caravanserai, is a two-story structure and one of two hans surviving in Beçin. It is plain and unimposing, and is partially ruined with its upper floor collapsed.
Buyuk Hammam, (the "large bathhouse"), is one of five hammams that once existed in the town. All are now in ruins. The Buyuk Hammam must have once been one of the town's most imposing structures - though now most of its roof has collapsed. Excavations have revealed its internal rooms and exposed its original floor level, which is paved with marble blocks.
Gallery
File:Becin 5237.jpg, Beçin from below
File:Becin 5238.jpg, Beçin from below
File:Becin 5264.jpg, Beçin Kızıl Han
File:Becin 5321.jpg, Beçin Ahmed Gazi medrese
File:Becin 5263.jpg, Beçin Ahmed Gazi medrese
File:Becin 5280.jpg, Beçin Ahmed Gazi Medrese entrance
File:Becin 5281.jpg, Beçin Ahmed Gazi Medrese Eyvan
File:Becin 5291.jpg, Beçin Ahmed Gazi Medrese banner
File:Beçin Ahmet Gazi madrasah view to Orhan Bey mosque 5290.jpg, Beçin Orhan Bey mosque
File:Becin 5303.jpg, Beçin Orhan Bey Mosque detail
File:Becin 5322.jpg, Beçin Castle from distance
File:Becin 5246.jpg, Beçin Castle
File:Becin 5339.jpg, Beçin Big Bath
File:Becin 5335.jpg, Beçin Big bath
World Heritage Site status
The medieval city (both the fort and the village) was added to the tentative list in the cultural category of UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
on April 13, 2012. Buildings such as ''Kızıl Han, Kara Paşa Han'' and ''Emir Courtyard'', the ''Orman Lodge'', the ''New Church'' and the ''Byzantine Chapel'' are among the archaeological remains.
/ref>
External links
References
{{Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in Turkey
Milas
World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey
Menteshe
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey