Emir Bayandur Mosque

Emir Bayındır Mosque stands in Ahlat, in Turkey's Bitlis province, and was built in the late 1470s under the patronage of the Akkoyunlu lord Emir Bayındır ibn Rüstem, with construction credited to the architect Baba Can Bey and generally dated to 1477-78. The mosque is known for its wide stone courtyard and the warm texture of its masonry, qualities that have made it a favorite subject for photographers visiting the Ahlat area. Close by stands a related tomb built in 1481 for Melik Bayındır, a member of the same Akkoyunlu dynasty, linking the mosque to the wider funerary and religious complex the family left across the region. Together these structures form part of Ahlat's dense concentration of Turkic-period monuments, reflecting the architectural patronage of a dynasty that controlled eastern Anatolia in the fifteenth century before the rise of Ottoman power there.