Ulu Cami (Birgi)

Ulu Cami ("Great Mosque", 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

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Aydınids was an Anatolian beylik ( principality ) in the 14th century in West Anatolia. Birgi, now a small 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. 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 ^[1] and the mihrab which is made of dark cyan marble.^[2] 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.^[2]

References[]

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