Birgi Grand Mosque (Birgi Ulucamii), also called "Aydınoğlu Mehmet Bey Mosque", is a historical mosque in Turkey.

The mosque is in the Birgi town in Ödemiş ilçe (district) of İzmir Province at 38°15′24″N 28°04′02″E / 38.25667°N 28.06722°E / 38.25667; 28.06722.

Aydınids was an Anatolian beylik ( principality ) in the 14th century in West Anatolia. Birgi, now a village was the capital of the beylik. The mosque was commissioned by Mehmet, the first ruler of the beylik.

Architecture

The mosque was built in 1312.[1][2] It is an example of a typical Seljukid mosque. The most notable sections of the mosque are the fine woodworking mimbar which has no metallic nail [3] and the mihrab which is made of dark cyan marble.[4] The lion statue in the south eastern corner of the building is also interesting for statues are rare in Islamic architecture and this statue is a spolia from a Lydian building.

Mimbar gate theft

In 1993 the gate of the mimbar disappeared and it was discovered by a British tourist in British Museum. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism purchased the gate and in 1996 it returned to where it belongs.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Foss, Clive (2022). The Beginnings of the Ottoman Empire. Oxford University Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-19-263477-1.
  2. ↑ Kalfazade, Selda (2012). "ULUCAMİ [Birgi]". TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  3. ↑ Visitİzmir page (in Turkish)
  4. 1 2 İzmir periodical (in Turkish)


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