No matter how little known they may be now, the beys (lords) of Turkey’s Beylik Era bestowed on Anatolia some of its most magnificent monuments, especially in the form of mosques. These are some of the sights most worth going out of your way to discover.
Ulu Cami, Manisa
Manisa, near İzmir, is not a town much visited by foreign tourists. Those who do pause here are bound to be won over by the stunning Muradiye designed by Sinan in 1586 but sometimes overlook the magnificent Ulu Cami on the hillside above the town that was commissioned in 1366 by İshak Çelebi, grandson of Saruhan, the man who had founded the Saruhan Beylik and whose shrine sits ignored a little way further down the hill.
The Ulu Cami’s most memorable feature is a porticoed courtyard whose columns are topped off with capitals taken from the ruins of the Roman settlement of Magnesia ad Sipylum although it also has a remarkable wooden mimber. As for İshak Çelebi, he’s buried in a shrine right beside the mosque.
Ulu Cami, Birgi
For many years sleepy little Birgi, an inland town near Tire and Ödemiş, was the capital of the Aydınoğulları Beylik that eventually gave a name to the town of Aydın. The finest monument from that period is the Ulu Cami, a hall-like space that is entered, unusually, down a flight of stairs and that features a high-pitched roof. The glorious tiled mihrab, and wonderful wooden mimber and window shutters are clearly inspired by Selçuk prototypes. Behind the mosque can be found the tomb of Mehmet Bey, the founder of the dynasty, and his even more powerful son, Gazi Umur Bey (1309?- 48), a buccaneer whose statue graces the main square.
İsa Bey Cami, Selcuk
Far more visitors will get to see the lovely, semi-ruinous İsa Bey Cami in Selçuk, which succeeded Birgi as the capital of the Aydınoğulları Beylik. The huge mosque here was built in 1375 for İsa Bey, a leader of the Aydınoğullarıs and came equipped with a vast courtyard where the congregation could pray outdoors in summer (and which proved very handy when it was converted into a caravanserai in the 19th century). With its wonderful marble portal designed by a Syrian architect, the İsa Bey Cami is often regarded as a model for the transition from Selçuk architecture to the Ottoman version. There’s a bust of İsa Bey nearby.
Becin, near Milas
When it comes to the abandoned settlements of Turkey people tend to think at once of places like Ephesus and Aphrodisias that date back to the Classical era. In the southwest corner of the country, however, the extensive and romantic remains of the capital of the Menteşe Beylik lie scattered across a high plateau at Becin near Milas. The most conspicuous monument is the ruined castle that was built on the site of a ruined temple to Zeus but if you keep walking you will come eventually to the remains of the Ahmed Ghazi Medrese that dates back to 1375 and contains the shrine of the most powerful of the Menteşe beys.
İlyas Bey Cami, Miletus
Visitors to the spectacular Roman theatre at Miletus often overlook the remains of the fine İlyas Bey Cami just down the road in a graveyard full of irises. The lovely mosque, its façade decorated with pieces of marble taken from the ruins, was commissioned by the Menteşe leader, İlyas Bey, in 1402 as a token of thanks for the safe return of his wife who had been taken captive by Tamerlane.
Tile Museum, Kütahya
Visitors to the Western Anatolia town of Kütahya usually have their hearts set on shopping for some of its famous ceramics so it’s not surprising that it has a Tile Museum housed in what was originally the İmaret Cami. The tiles on display may be delightful but many people will probably be equally taken with the lovely blue-tiled tomb of Yakup Bey (r.1390-1409), one of the powerful Germiyan rulers. Nearby the Vacidiye Medrese housing the Archaeology Museum was built as an observatory and school of science for the earlier Germiyan bey, Bin Savcı in 1314.
Eşrefoğlu Cami, Beyşehir
On the shores of Beyşehir Gölü (Lake Beyşehir) in Western Anatolia, the glorious Eşrefoğlu Cami with its sea of 42 wooden columns and its magnificent mihrab and mimber was commissioned in 1299 for Seyfeddin Süleyman and serves as a reminder of one of the smaller and less significant beyliks, that of the Eşrefids, for whom Beyşehir (“the City of the Bey”) was briefly the capital. Seyfeddin Süleyman is buried in a tomb right beside the mosque .
Mahmud Bey Cami, Kasaba
The Central Anatolian town of Kastamonu retains several monuments to the period when it served as the capital of the Candaroğulları Beylik. However, the most impressive single reminder of that period lies out of town in the pinprick village of Kasaba, near Daday. Here can be found one of Turkey’s most spectacular wooden mosques, its interior a phantasmagoria of brightly painted columns and rafters dating back to 1366. Some years ago the equally splendid doors were stolen. Luckily they were recovered and can be inspected in the Liva Paşa Konağı museum in Kastamonu.
İbrahim Bey Cami, Karaman
The restored İbrahim Bey Cami in Karaman in Central Anatolia dates back to 1422 and pairs an internal austerity with flourishes of Selçuk-style exuberance around the doorways. It was designed for the Karamanoğulları ruler İbrahim Bey II who is buried in the conical shrine right beside it and has a virtual twin in the La’al Paşa Cami (1444) in nearby Mut. A short walk away from the mosque, the Hatuniye Medrese (1382) is a superb Beylik-era building whose portal mirrors the stalactite design of Selçuk buildings and whose interior boasts doorways of a Mardinesque elaboration.
Ulu Cami, Adana
Adana might not seem the most obvious place to go looking for medieval monuments but in the Ulu Cami it does boast a thoroughly impressive and unique mosque that dates back to the very last days of the Ramazanoğulları Beylik, work having started on it only two years before Sultan Selim I came riding through to seize the city for the Ottomans. The Ramazanoğullarıs had kept their grip on power largely through an alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks and what makes this mosque so especially interesting is that its black and white portal would really look more at home in Cairo than it does here.
Work began in 1513 when the mosque was commissioned by Halil Bey who is buried inside it. By the time it was completed by his son Piri Mehmet Paşa in 1541 the Ottomans were firmly in control. Facing the park beside the mosque is the lovely brick and stone Ramazanoğlu Konağı, the oldest house in Adana, which dates back to 1495 when it was part of the local palace.
