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Alâeddin Mosque

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For other mosques of the same name, see Alaeddin Mosque

Alâeddin Mosque is a historic mosque in Konya, Turkey which served as the "Mosque of the Throne" for the Seljuk Sultans of Anatolia and which contains the dynastic mausoleum where eight of the sultans are buried. It was constructed in stages between the mid-12th and mid-13th centuries. Both the mosque and the artificial mound, or hill, the acropolis of the ancient city, bear the name of sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I (Alâeddin Camii and Alâeddin Tepesi in Turkish) and are prominent features of Konya's cityscape.

The Mosque

The mosque is an agglomeration of two building campaigns separated by more than half a century. It is not always clear which parts belong to the original mosque of 1152 and which are the additons of the 1220s. The first building campaign dates from the reign of Mesud I. An inscription dates the fine, ebony minbar to 1155. The minbar is the first dated example of Seljuk art in Anatolia. In 1219, the sultan Izzeddin Keykavus I began a major rebuilding program, pursued chiefly during the reign of his brother and successor Alaeddin Keykubad I, whence the name of the edifice. In this second construction phase, the main entrance was changed from the west to the north, opposite the mihrab. A monumental façade was added on the north side, overlooking the city and facing the Seljuk palace, from which parts of a tower are only standing. The vaulted ceiling, supported by 42 columns also date from this phase. Some of the building material and architectural ornament incorporated into the mosque, especially columns and capitals were salvaged from nearby Byzantine structures.

The minaret, the marble mihrab (1891), and the eastern door, through which most visitors enter the mosque, date from the Ottoman period. The citadel walls were levelled a few years earlier in 1896. The sensational discovery in 1905, by a member of the city's German consulate staff, of 13th century carpet fragments in Alaeddin Mosque, which were woven at some time between the years 1220 and 1250 and which are now on exhibit, have since then drawn carpet experts and admirers to Konya. Until the 1920s, Alaeddin Mosque shared the hill with the "Eflatun Mescidi" which was the converted Byzantine church of Saint Amphilochius, venerated for centuries by the city's Muslims and Christians alike .

Sultans buried in the Mosque

File:MetinCanbalabanAlaaddinMosqueKonyaTurkeyEngraving1849.jpg
Alaeddin Mosque in a 1849 engraving.

The courtyard of Alâeddin Mosque encloses two monumental mausolea. According to an inscription on the façade, the tomb with the conical roof was built by Kilij Arslan II. This mausoleum became the principal burial place of the dynasty and houses the sarcophagi of eight of the Seljuk sultans of Anatolia. These are;

The second mausoleum was begun by Izzeddin Keykavus I but left unfinished at the time of the sultan’s death (d. 1219). The tomb is octagonal and constructed from marble. This unfinished mausoleum is known as Adsız Türbe, or the "Anonymous Mausoleum," since the names of those buried within are unknown, although the mummified corpses are within reach.

See Also

References

  1. Machiel Kiel. Full text: "Modern electronics in the study of Turkish architecture". , Utrecht University, 2001. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. Niki Gamm. Article: "Striking Regional Carpet Exhibit Opens". Turkish Daily News. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. The word Masjid implies a mosque of smaller dimensions in this sense, for the meaning of the word "Eflatun", see also Eflatunpınar.
  4. Scott Redford, Georgetown University. First page: "The Alaeddin Mosque Reconsidered". Artibus Asiae, vol. 51, no. 1/2. pp. 54-74. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

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