Ulu Mosque, Kayseri

Kayseri Ulu Mosque (also known as Sultan Mosque or Cami-i Kebir), a mosque located in the city centre of Kayseri province, Turkey, built around the middle of the 12th century.

At the time of its construction it was the largest building in Kayseri. Built in a deep‑plan type, the mosque is one of the oldest examples of this plan type in Anatolia. The tomb behind the qibla wall is thought to belong to Melik Mehmet Gazi.

History

The exact construction date of the mosque is unknown; it is generally stated that it was built during the reign of Danişmendli Emir Melik Mehmed Gazi, although there are also those who date it to an earlier period.

It was built as a complex together with a madrasa that has now been demolished and disappeared.

The building was repaired in 1206. On the north façade, in the upper left corner of the portal, it is reported that the building was repaired during the reign of Seljuk Sultan I. Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev. The inscription on the portal reads: This mosque, son of Kılıçaslan, during the great Sultan Keyhusrev’s reign – may God exalt his aid – was repaired in H.602/M.1206 by Yağıbasanoğlu, Muzaffereddin Mahmud. The mosque’s minaret was added to the structure during this repair and is the oldest minaret in Kayseri. The wooden north door leaves, made in the relief fake‑brick technique and presumed to have been installed during this repair, are now in the Ankara Ethnography Museum.

The mosque suffered severe damage in the 1716 earthquake during the Ottoman period. Two marble inscriptions above the north‑facade portal provide information about the repair carried out after this earthquake. The inscriptions state that the Ulu Mosque, destroyed by the earthquake, was repaired by the imperial kitchen overseer (Matbah‑ı Amire Emini) Kayserili Hacı Halil Efendi.

The mosque has undergone several repairs during the Ottoman period. A white marble mihrab was added to the mosque in 1837 by Kayseri deputy Nuri Efendi.

Architectural features

It is a longitudinal building with a small courtyard in the middle and a dome in front of the mihrab. The plan and façade arrangement of the mosque reflect the tradition of the Great Mosque in Anatolian Seljuk architecture. The central part, originally left open, was later closed with a dome.

There is a door in the middle of the east, west, and north façades. The prayer hall consists of eight bays parallel to the mihrab. The bays are separated by pointed arches resting on massive columns. The columns and column capitals are thought to have been brought from a nearby Byzantine church. The main material of the structure is carved tuff stone.

The square-based, cylindrical-bodied minaret, added during the 1206 repair, is located just beside the western entrance of the mosque. From the stairs beside the door one ascends to the mosque roof and enters the minaret through a door there. The minaret tapers upward and then continues straight for a distance. Its base is stone, the shaft is brick up to the balcony. The section above the balcony, which collapsed in an earthquake, was rebuilt in carved stone. Below the balcony, the Ayat al‑Kursi written in kufic script on tiles is placed within a wide band.

Surrounding structures

North of the mosque, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III, the Vezir Han, a commercial building commissioned by Grand Vizier Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha, is located. On the northeast façade, a narrow passage lies between the Great Mosque and Vezir Han.

Attached to the southeast façade of the mosque is the Raşit Efendi Library, built in the 19th century. In the past, this library was entered through a door inside the mosque; to the east of the library stood a building called Mahkeme Han.

From the Melikgazi Madrasa attached to the south façade of the Ulu Mosque, only a tomb attached to the qibla wall of the Mosque has survived to the present day. The tomb, referred to as "Kayserifatihi," is thought to belong to Melik Mehmet Gazi.

Fountain

To the east of the Mosque, the fountain built attached to the south wall of the Vezirhan is thought to have been constructed in the early 18th century. The fountain consists of ablution taps located on a platform raised from the ground under a wide portico. Each tap is situated in a square space formed by twelve monolithic stone columns connected by round arches.