Kapu Mosque

Kapu Mosque is a historic mosque in Konya dating from the 17th‑century Ottoman period. It is the largest among the Ottoman mosques in the city. The mosque, located on Sarraflar Street in the central Meram district, is owned by the General Directorate of Foundations and is active under the jurisdiction of the Meram Mufti Office.

History

The mosque takes its name from being built next to one of the entrances of Konya Castle. It was commissioned in 1658 by Pir Hüseyin Çelebi, a post‑assistant of the Mevlevi Dergâh. After its first renovation in 1811, the mosque was completely burned together with the surrounding foundation shops in a fire in 1867. Rebuilt in 1868, the mosque has lost its original form entirely.

Architecture

Built of cut stone, the mosque exhibits classic Ottoman mosque architecture. Its roof has eight small domes on the interior. The mihrab is stone, the minbar is wood. Above the main entrance there is an inscription dating to the 1868 renovation. It also has doors on the east and west sides. At the entrance of the mosque there is a last congregational gallery supported by ten columns.

The work, one of several examples in Konya built on a platform, is constructed of cut stone. The mosque consists of a longitudinal rectangular prayer hall (harim) and a last congregational area with nine arches located north of the prayer hall. The latter is reached by a nine‑step stone staircase leading to a space covered with a flat ceiling, supported by ten columns linked by pointed arches, and beneath which are shops.

The façades of the building have lower and upper windows. The number of windows varies according to the characteristics of the façades. The windows are rectangular in shape both at the bottom and at the top. The lower windows have been made larger than the upper ones. In addition, the lower windows also have pointed, slightly flattened arches, and the arch springers are built with brick. Apart from brick material, cut stone has been used on the façades of the building, and in some sections ancient (antique) material has also been placed.

The building is entered through one door on each of three sides. The entrance located at the north façade, where the last congregation area is, is more carefully made than the entrances on the east and west. The frame of the north entrance, moved with simple plasters, extends up to the ceiling level. On the upper part of the entrance arch there is a three‑row keystone. Through the shallow arched opening one passes into the harim (main worship space). The harim has many legs and consequently a multi‑unit arrangement. The legs are connected to each other with round arches.

The harim, which has a roof system carried by 16 wooden posts connected to each other and to the walls with shallow arches, covers approximately a square area. In the spaces between the wooden posts and the body walls a flat ceiling is used, while in the spaces between the columns domes are present as part of the roof system. Plant‑like motifs made with pen work run around the base of the dome and rise toward the dome.

The building's simple stone mihrab was renewed in the 1998 restoration and replaced with the present-day tiled mihrab. On the south wall of the mosque, it is limited by a slightly protruding rectangular frame between two windows on the body wall. Above the mihrab, in a second-level view, there is a “U”-plan mahfil. The wooden mahfil, located under the flat ceiling areas adjacent to the east, west and north body walls, is accessed by two staircases situated at the northeast and northwest corners.

The body walls of the mosque are tiled with tiles up to the window level. The surroundings of the window openings and the transition elements to the dome, as well as the domes themselves, display intensive penwork decoration. The penwork, largely renewed in the 1998 restoration, was applied in light blue and navy colors on white plaster.

In Konya, the mosque located south of the Government Palace and originally named İhyaiyye is called by this name because it lies between Atpazarı and Telli Kapılan of Konya Castle. The building currently in use is the third structure built on the same site.