Şeker Hoca Mosque

Şeker Hoca Mosque in Bursa is a 15th‑century place of worship located in the Nalbantoğlu neighbourhood.

It is behind the Grand Mosque, on Şeker Hoca Street.

Architectural features

It is a square‑plan building covered with a lead‑clad, rib‑less dome. The floor and roof coverings are wooden. The mosque has walls 95 cm thick, and its wall fabric uses cut stone and brick together. At the entrance of the mosque there are Bursa arches, and the interior is illuminated by eight windows. The windows set in the pointed arches are recessed inward and have rectangular marble frames.

Within the portico area, a two‑storey structure has been created with wooden construction. The upper floor is used for women, the lower floor as the main prayer space. Its façade, formerly covered with three‑arched wooden lattices, was closed with a camakan during a repair it underwent.

On the east side of the mosque there is a single‑shanked minaret standing on an octagonal base. The minaret shaft consists of two rows of bricks and one row of cut‑stone masonry and is finished with a crenellated cornice. The minaret is accessed through a door from the main prayer area.

A tomb is located immediately beside it.

History

Because there is no foundation inscription, there are no definitive details about the construction date of the mosque or who commissioned it. However, it is accepted that the “Şeker Hoca” nickname belongs to the Horasan wali Mevlana Baba Yusuf bin Hamid, who lived during the reign of Çelebi Mehmed or Sultan Murad II, and that he had the mosque built in those periods. The tomb of Şeker Hoca is situated to the south of the mosque.