MOSQUES AND CHURCHES

THE SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE

It was built just outside Içkale on the top of the castle in 1231 when the city was being reconstructed by Alaaddin Keykubat, the Sultan of Seljukians.

However the mosque was not in good condition in the following years and it was rebuilt by Kanuni Sultan Suleyman in the 16th century during the Ottoman Era.. The mosque with a single minaret is known as Alaaddin, Kale or Sulaymaniye. The building is made of rubble stones and it is square in shape. It has a brick dome based on an octagonal frame. Fifteen little earthenware jars were placed in the part functioning as the hanger of the dome in order to ensure its acoustics. That quality is felt during religious practice, The final public place is found below three brick domes on a four-foot basis. The covers of doors and windows are fine examples of wood carving of the Ottoman.

THE SMALL MOSQUE OF AKBESHE SULTAN

It's in the citadel northwards of Bedesten and nearly 100 metres past Süleymaniye Mosque. It was built in 1230 by Akbeshe Sultan, the first commander of Alaaddin Keykubat in the citadel of Alanya.

Its outer part is of stone blocks and the inner side, also the dome is of bricks. It has a square shape and two rooms. One of the rooms is a small mosque and in the other one there is the tomb of Akbese Sultan. There are three other tombs in the room. It's clear that the apse of the small mosque is decorated with painted files. The inscription there means: "God Knows the secrets of earth and heavens." Small mosques of God are only built by those who believe in Him and in doomsday. It was built in 1230 when the great Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat reigned, by poor Akbese, who needed God's compassion." There's a cylindrical minaret made of bricks in body on the base of rubble stones, a few metres far from the small mosque.

THE ANDIZLI MOSQUE

It's in Tophone district. The mosque is named so because of a tree called elecampane nearby. It was built in 1277 by Emir Bedruddin.

It has some characteristics peculiar to the architecture of the Seljukian period. It's made of stone blocks and has a minaret which is not high. Its pulpit is one of the finest examples of Seljukian art of carving wood. You can go to the mosque through the door below, near Kyzylkule. The minaret that ends with a balcony has an interesting look.

THE TOMB OF SITTI ZEYNEP

It's on a rock on the way to the citadel. It's thought to be of the Seljukians or Ottoman period.

It is square in shape and consists of two rooms., there is a long sarcophagus and the other room is empty. Evliya Celebi wrote that the building was a lodge of Bektasi Dervishes. We have no certain information about Sitti Zeynep. The name of the pious foundation of the tomb was “Sitti Zeynep Zeynül Abidin" in the foundation records of the Ottoman Empire during Kanuni Sultan Suleyman period. The person who had a tomb there is thought to have been an enlightened mystic. Three tombs, two meters long each, were carved in the rock where the tomb is situated in the antique era. Antique tombs were once used as water tanks.

HIDIRELLEZ CHURCH

It is within the boundaries of Haci Mehmetli Village in Hidir Ilyas, ten kms far from the center of Alanya.

The church that is thought to have been founded on a slope overlooking the Mediterranean at the beginning of the 19th century is used for worshipping by Christian and Muslim visitors today. It is rectangular in shape, its roof is built of brick, its walls are made of stone and it has a little apse. There's a mezzanine wooden floor decorated in the church. The frescos on the walls have been detoriated. It's understood from the inscription that the church was repaired in 1873. The inscription being exhibited in Alanya Museum was written in Turkish (the language of Karamans), using the Greek alphabet. The church was closed when the people of Orthodox Church living in Alanya and speaking Turkish, went to Greece because of the exchange in 1924. Hidirellez Church that has got a water source nearby is also known as the Church of Antalya Kaleici. Entrance to the church is free.