Aydınoğlu Mehmet Bey Mosque (Birgi Ulu Mosque)

Aydınoğlu Mehmet Bey Mosque (Birgi Ulu Mosque)

Birgi Ulu Mosque, located in Birgi of Ödemiş district in İzmir province, was built as a complex consisting of a madrasa, a bathhouse and a tomb. The mosque and the tomb of Aydınoğlu Mehmet Bey have survived until today.

The history

Aydınoğlu Mehmet Bey had the building group built in Hijri712 (1312-1313 AD). Two inscriptions indicating this are located on the north and east entrance doors of the mosque. This mosque, which is the symbol of Birginin, was built on a slightly sloping land on the left side of the stream passing through the middle of the city. The mosque, built in the north-south direction, taking into account the slope of the land, has a square plan and has five naves perpendicular to the altar. The mosque, made of cut stone, is covered with a double-sloped roof. Only the mihrab is domed in front. As the two-storey windows illuminating the place of worship due to the land location are in different positions, this situation is reflected in the masonry. An important part of the eastern facade of the mosque is made of reused large blocks. In addition, rough rubble stone was used in contrast with this masonry.

There are two windows on both sides of the entrance to the east and two windows at the bottom. The upper row windows just below the roof are in a simple rectangular shape with an external grid. The ones towards the entrance are slightly shifted to each other, although the lower windows give the appearance of a single window from a distance, this situation is caused by the transformation of a large rectangular window into a decorative shape with a segmented arch. These windows are bordered on both sides by a column with twisted body and volute capital. The top of them was shaped into a five-segmented arch by carving solid marble blocks. In the middle of this arch, a simple knot and crossings are formed. A composition of vine leaves, bunches of grapes, flowers and rosettes in the corners complete them. There is a single line verse above the window. The upper window to the right of the entrance is slightly different from it. Here, the seven-segmented arch was created by carving two separate marble blocks. Here, too, a simple knotted crossing is noteworthy. There is another verse with a single line above this window. The most striking point on this facade of the mosque is the reused lion sculpture placed in the corners where it joins with the south facade. The face of this lion sculpture, located in a rectangular niche, has been erased in an invisible way. There is an entrance door in the middle of the east facade of the mosque. This door, which is enclosed in a wooden porch and reaches the roof level, is reached by a few steps. This door, which is made of marble with a careful workmanship, has three rows of side walls and a frame around it in a single row. The entrance is in the form of a flattened arch, a bouquet-shaped palmette motif and a small topper on the keystone, small rosettes and flower motifs on the corners of the arch. However, after its construction, there are traces showing that this part was repaired at different times. Regarding the mosque, Evliya Çelebi, Fuat Köprülü and İbrahim Hakkı Uzunçarşılı did not give details, but stated that it had three gates. Selda Kalfazade, who was researching the subject, learned in her conversations with the villagers that the window in the south corner of the west facade was used as a door in the 1930s. Thus, it was revealed that the building had three doors. The northern entrance of the mosque is almost a repetition of the eastern entrance in terms of construction work and composition. Only the entrance opening is covered by an interlaced stone pointed arch. Each stone in this arch is decorated with small rosettes. There is a floral motif on the keystone and large filled medallions in the corners. In the epitaph section above the door, the inscription in thuluth in two lines is related to the construction of the mosque. It is written here that Aydınoğlu Mehmet Bey built this mosque in 1312-1313. Apart from this, the door is enclosed in a wide frame with a verse written in thuluth on three sides. Of these, the middle nave is wider and the mihrab front is covered with a dome and has a more distinctive shape. The dome in front of the mihrab is accessed with pendentives. There are three columns in the fourth row in the west of these columns in three rows, four each from east to west. However, it is stated in the Seyahatname of Evliya Çelebi that there are sixteen columns in the original structure. In an unidentified period, perhaps as a result of the earthquake, a difference occurred in the interior layout of the mosque. The mihrab and the front of the mihrab and the upper part of the arch for the middle nave are covered with mosaic tiles. These tiles in the inlay technique are in dark purple, turquoise colors and have a geometric decoration. The walnut pulpit next to the mihrab is the work of Muzaferiddin Bin Abdülvahid and is made in kündekari technique. The minaret located in the south corner of the west facade of the mosque is placed on a base made of cut stone. The cylindrical-bodied brick minaret is covered with turquoise colored glazed bricks. It is noteworthy that the lower part of the minaret body is made of glazed and unglazed bricks as a zigzag weave, and the upper part, which coincides with the cheers, is made of turquoise glazed bricks as a diamond knitting. Although the checkered weave here is also repeated in the honeycomb part of the minaret, only the lower part of the decoration has survived to the present day.