Eşrefoğlu Mosque

Eşrefoğlu Mosque is a 13th-century mosque in Beyşehir, Konya Province, Turkey
It is situated north of the Beyşehir Lake

History

During the last years of Seljuks of Rum, various governors of Seljuks enjoyed a partial independency. They established their own semi independent principalities named Anatolian Beyliks. Eshrefids (1280–1326) was a small beylik in center west Anatolia. After 1288, Süleyman Bey, the second bey of Eshrefids rebuilt the city of Beyşehir as a capital of his beylik. Although his beylik was relatively an unimportant political power, the city flourished as one of the cultural centers of Seljuk world. In 1296, he commissioned a mosque in Beyşehir, one of the greatest mosques during the Anatolian beylik period. In 1302 he died and buried in a sepulcher next to the mosque.

Technical details

The plan of the mosque is rectangular; . But the corner at the north east side is enlarged to make room for the main portal. The dimensions of the portal are . There are two smaller gates and 35 windows. The roof is supported by 42 wooden columns. The length of each column is . Their diameter is .

After seven centuries, unlike most other Seljuk wooden buildings, this mosque survives and it is used for regular services. The wooden columns are made of cedar and according to oral tradition they were soaked in the Beyşehir lake for six months before being used in the building. At the center of the mosque there is a snow pit. Up to relatively recent times (1940s), the pit was used to be filled with snow from the nearby mountains. This snow both cooled the mosque during the summers and supplied the necessary humidity to the wooden infrastructure.

Unesco World Heritage Tentative list

On 15 April 2011 the mosque was included in the list of World Heritage tentative list. The justification statements is "''Esrefoglu Mosque includes all the main elements of early Anatolian Turkish architecture. The building is the biggest, best preserved wooden columned and roofed mosque in Islamic World.''"UNESCO Official page
/ref>

See also

* List of Turkish Grand Mosques

Gallery

File:Beysehir from Lake Beysehir.jpg, View of Beysehir from the lake, the Eşrefoğlu Mosque is on the right with the minaret.
File:Beysehir Eshrefoglu Camii 4369.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Exterior
File:Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior east side 4341.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior general view
File:Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior east side 4264.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior with müezzin mahfili
File:Beysehir Eshrefoglu Camii 4223.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior with müezzin mahfili
File:Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque Snow pit 4219.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior with snow pit
File:Beysehir Eshrefoglu Camii 4232.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior with balcony
File:Beyşehir Mahfili of the Bey 4233.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior with balcony details
File:Beysehir Eshrefoglu Camii 4221.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior painting under balcony
File:Esrefoglu1.jpg, Entrance of the mosque
File:Esrefoglu4.jpg, Wooden columns
File:Esrefoglu3.jpg, Mihrab
File:Esrefoglu5.jpg,
File:Esrefoglu6.jpg, Minber
File:Beysehir Eshrefoglu Camii 4215.jpg, Eşrefoğlu Mosque Interior door to minber
File:Ince Minare Medrese Museum Eşrefoğlu detail 2897.jpg, Ince Minare Medrese Museum Doors from Beysehir

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esrefoglu Mosque
History of Konya Province
Tourist attractions in Konya Province
Seljuk mosques in Turkey
Buildings and structures completed in 1299
Mosques completed in the 1290s
Anatolian Beyliks architecture