Upper Castle Mosque

Konak / İzmir

Upper Castle Mosque

One of the few buildings whose remains have survived to modern day in Kadifekale is this Castle Mosque. According to the epitaph mentioned by Evliya Celebi, which could not survive, castle gate was built by Hajji Ilyas ibn Ahmad in Hegira 708 (Gregorian 1308-1309). Considering this information, Castle Mosque is probably the oldest Turkish structure in Izmir, whose existence dates back to the early years of conquest of Izmir by Aydinogullari.

Evliya Celebi also mentioned that after Lower Castle was taken, people migrated to that side and the mosque community consisted of the castle officials only. After a while, remains of the mosque, which were never used, were somehow mistaken by foreign travellers to be ruins of a chapel / church, even associated to St. Polycarp. However, recent excavations have shown that the building is a typical Islamic place of worship.

Nowadays, the mosque, of which you can only see the remains, is to be restored together with the Byzantine Cistern, by Metropolitan Municipality of Izmir.

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