Mustafapaşa Cami-i Kebir

Mustafapaşa Cami-i Kebir (Mustafapaşa Ulu Camii) is an Ottoman mosque located in the center of the Mustafapaşa town in the district of Ürgüp, Nevşehir.

It is situated opposite the Mehmet Şakir Paşa Medrese. The building, constructed with local stone, is covered with a broken roof. It is thought to have been built in the 17th or 18th century. Because there is no construction charter or document, the exact construction date is unknown, but the mosque has the construction year 1601 indicated on it.

History

One of three Ottoman-era mosques in the town, the Cami-i Kebir, which provided water to the village at the beginning of the 19th century, is therefore known by the name of Mustafa Paşa, given to the village in the second half of the 1920s. It is stated that the modest stone fountain, which gave the town its name Mustafa Paşa, was formerly located under this mosque and was moved to its present location during repairs.

According to the record of the Niğde Sanjak Central Town Asar‑ı Atika Register, the mosque was commissioned by a person named El‑Hac İbrahim. The document contains no record of the construction date. Because there is no construction charter or document, the exact construction date is unknown; it is thought to have been built in the 17th or 18th century. The mosque has the construction year 1601 indicated on it, but this determination is not based on any source.

As often seen in the mosques of the Cappadocia region, a small winter space that is easy to heat was later added to the structure. It is thought that this space was later expanded, and that the thinner‑walled northern part was added during this expansion.

Architectural features

The rectangular‑plan prayer hall of the mosque consists of two bays perpendicular to the mihrab. Its entrance is on the north side of the eastern façade. The bays are covered with pointed cradle vaults. Pointed cradle vault‑covered structures are characteristic of the region. After the vaults are formed as pointed arches, regular cut stones are placed between the two arches during construction. The exterior of the mosque, which originally had a flat earthen roof, was later covered with a broken roof.

On the south and east façades of the building there are two windows each with deep niches and plain arches. Because the number of windows is few, the space is dim. The mihrab projects outward from the wall. The mihrab niche is completely filled with muqarnas. To the west of the mihrab there is a classic-type stone minbar. To the north of the harim, added later to the structure, there are two independent wooden-constructed gallery floors.

To the east of the harim, there is a later-added rectangular-plan winter space. This space is illuminated by two windows on the south and one window each on the east and north.

The mosque has two minarets. In the southeast corner of the harim there is a pavilion-type minaret commonly seen in the region’s mosques. The staircase of this minaret is external and open. To the north of the winter space there is a classic-type minaret erected by the public in 1979.