Şeyh Mutahhar Camii, alternately Şeyh Matar Camii, is a mosque located near the center of the old walled city of Diyarbakır, just east of the intersection of the city's two axial streets, across from Mar Petyun Kilisesi. The mosque is famous for its detached minaret, which is a tower elevated on four thick columns and is thus known as Dört Ayaklı Minare (Four-Legged Minaret). The date of the prayer hall is not certain, but an inscription on the detached minaret dated 1500 suggest that construction of the minaret took place during the reign of the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Kasım, hence its other local name Kasım Padişah Camii.
The prayer hall of the mosque is a domed cube fronted on its north side by a three-bayed portico. The dome rests on an octagonal drum. The detached minaret rises on its four-columned base just to the northeast of the mosque. It takes the form of a square tower surmounted by a shorter cylindrical shaft with a steep conical spire. The visible facades of the mosque and minaret are dressed with alternating courses of black basalt and white limestone masonry (ablaq).
The main entrance to the mosque is through a portal under the central bay of the portico. Flanking the entrance under the bays to north and south are windows. The prayer hall consists of one large open square under the central dome, which rests on squinches above eight pointed arches. The mihrab has a muqarnas hood framed within a trefoil arch. It is constructed of alternating courses of black basalt and white limestone masonry.
The legs to the mosque's minaret were damaged in a shootout that took place in November, 2015.1
Notes:
"Historic mosque falls victim to clashes in Diyarbakir, damaged by fire," Today's Zaman, December 17, 2015. www.todayszaman.com
Sources:
Sinclair, T. A. Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey, 188-189. 4 vols. London: The Pindar Press, 1989.
Şeyh Mutahhar Camii, alternately Şeyh Matar Camii, is a mosque located near the center of the old walled city of Diyarbakır, just east of the intersection of the city's two axial streets, across from Mar Petyun Kilisesi. The mosque is famous for its detached minaret, which is a tower elevated on four thick columns and is thus known as Dört Ayaklı Minare (Four-Legged Minaret). The date of the prayer hall is not certain, but an inscription on the detached minaret dated 1500 suggest that construction of the minaret took place during the reign of the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Kasım, hence its other local name Kasım Padişah Camii.
The prayer hall of the mosque is a domed cube fronted on its north side by a three-bayed portico. The dome rests on an octagonal drum. The detached minaret rises on its four-columned base just to the northeast of the mosque. It takes the form of a square tower surmounted by a shorter cylindrical shaft with a steep conical spire. The visible facades of the mosque and minaret are dressed with alternating courses of black basalt and white limestone masonry (ablaq).
The main entrance to the mosque is through a portal under the central bay of the portico. Flanking the entrance under the bays to north and south are windows. The prayer hall consists of one large open square under the central dome, which rests on squinches above eight pointed arches. The mihrab has a muqarnas hood framed within a trefoil arch. It is constructed of alternating courses of black basalt and white limestone masonry.
The legs to the mosque's minaret were damaged in a shootout that took place in November, 2015.1
Notes:
"Historic mosque falls victim to clashes in Diyarbakir, damaged by fire," Today's Zaman, December 17, 2015. www.todayszaman.com
Sources:
Sinclair, T. A. Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey, 188-189. 4 vols. London: The Pindar Press, 1989.