Aliağa Mosque

It is a mosque in Konak district of Izmir with a picturesque appearance in the middle of cypresses and old graves. The inscription of the mosque corresponds to the year 1672 and it is said that the person who built it was Ali Aga from Gediz.

Abdullah Efendi Mosque

It is on the junction of 1276 and 1277 Streets in Basmane - Konak. Since we know that the mosque was already there in the 1770s, it must have been built earlier. However, it has taken its current structure in recent times.

Başdurak (Hacı Hüseyin) Mosque

Located on the corner of Anafartalar Street and Kemeraltı 863 Street, Başdurak Mosque is known with the name of its founder Hacı Hüseyin. The region, where the mosque is located, was known as “Başoturak” in the past, and then started to be called Başdurak because it was easier to say it in daily language.

We can reach the oldest information about Başdurak Mosque from Evliya Çelebi's Travel guide “Seyahatname”.

The mosque is of the bazaar-mosque type, with shops on the lower floor and the place of worship and the last meeting place on the upper floor. A shop was added to the bazaar section after evaluating the traces found during the restoration works carried out by the General Directorate of Foundations for three years. Thus, the number of shops under the mosque has increased to 28. The place of worship has a square plan and is covered with a large dome which allows to pass through squinches. The three-part congregation place was covered with a mirror vault in the middle and a dome with a pendentive passage on the sides. A door to the east of the last congregation area opens to a vaulted imam room and a door to the west opens to a corridor leading to the minaret. The present minaret in the northwest corner of the mosque was built in place of the first minaret which was collapsed.

On the exterior of the building, the plaster frieze under the eaves and the flower motifs on it attract attention. The upper part of the walls, the lower and upper floor windows and the mihrab are decorated with low relief plaster consisting of plant motifs. Dazzling with all its glory, the Başdurak Mosque also has some decorations which are hand-drawn. Marble reliefs on the entrance of the pulpit and its side mirrors and the floral ornaments made in openwork technique on the railings are also worth to see.

Çorakkapı (Taşrakapı) Mosque

This mosque in Konak Basmane seemed to be at the very end of the Turkish neighborhoods, with its large cemetery, madrasah and other structures around it. It was built by a philanthropist named Bostanizâde Mehmed Efendi probably before the seventeenth century. Therefore we know it already existed in 1745. It is among the beautiful mosques of Izmir with its elegant minaret and dome.

Fettah Mosque

Located on the corner of streets 1297 and 1298, it must have been built in the seventeenth century. Evliya Çelebi describes this mosque, which he called “Abdulfettah Çavuş” mosque, as “a tiled but prosperous mosque”. It was repaired in 1843 and 1861. It has taken its final shape in recent years.

Faikpaşa Mosque

The mosque, which gave its name to a neighborhood of Izmir in the beginning of the sixteenth century, is located on 965 and 967 streets. Evliya Çelebi says that the masonry dome is covered with lead, but its original structure is probably collapsed by fire and earthquakes. The date of 1842 in his notes indicates to a major repair after a fire.

Hisar Mosque

It is located in Fevzi Paşa Street in Hisarönü district of İzmir; for this this mosque it was written in some sources that it was converted from a Latin Church and other sources say that it was built by Aydınoğlu Özdemiroğlu (Molla) Yakup Bey in 1597-1598. It is also stated in the sources that the mosque was destroyed by Timur in 1402. The mosque had taken the name “Hisar”, because it is located in front of the lower gate of the citadel (citadel means “hisar” in turkish). According to an inscription on the garden gate, the mosque was restored in 1298 (1881) with hijri calendar.

This mosque, one of the largest and most magnificent buildings in Izmir, was damaged during the 1813, 1868 and 1881 earthquakes and was repaired many times. In 1813, a last congregation place was added to the mosque.

The mosque, which is made of cut stone and rubble stone, has a square plan and is covered with a central dome resting on eight elephant legs and six domes supporting it. The entrance to the place of worship from the last congregation point in the west direction is through three doors. The last congregation area is covered with seven domes carried by eight marble columns connected by round arches. In recent times, the front of the last congregation place was closed with glass showcase.

The wooden pulpit in the mosque has a mother-of-pearl inlaid decoration. The mihrab has the form of a round niche. The interior of the mosque is decorated with hand-drawn works with the style of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The minaret has a round body built on a cut stone base and has a single balcony. The minaret was renovated in 1927.

Hacı Mahmud Mosque

Located on the corner of 847 and 848 streets, it is a beautiful mosque with centuries-old cypress trees and cemeteries in its courtyard. There used to be an infant’s school next to the mosque. Since we know that Evliya Çelebi mentioned this mosque, it must have been built in the seventeenth century.

Mahmud Mosque Grave: The grave inscriptions of the Hacı Mahmud Mosque (XVIII and XIXth centuries). The Grave is located to the west of the Hacı Mahmud Mosque  (the mosque is open for worship) at the end of the very busy Second Beyler Street which leads to Kemeraltı Street. It is discovered that some tombstones were brought to this grave from the cemeteries removed from Izmir before 1933.

Han-Bey (Market Place) Mosque     

It is a mosque dating back maybe earlier than fifteenth century. Its current structure should also be new. It is located on 948 Street and used to have a lodge. Evliya Çelebi also mentions that there was Hacı İbrahim Mosque here. It is well known as Market Place Mosque and its original name must be Han-Bey.

Hatuniye Mosque

It was on the corner of Anafartalar Street and 943 Street and used to have a large madrasah. It was built in the early seventeenth century by a philanthropic woman named Tayyibe Hatun. Covered by one large and two small domes, this two-annexed non-symmetric planned mosque underwent significant repair in 1737.

İkiçeşmelik Mosque

The mosque is located on Konak İkiçeşmelik Street and has many repair inscriptions indicating recent history. But we know that this mosque existed already in 1734 under the name of Kurt Mehmet Yeniçeri or Kurt Beşe.

Kurşunlu Mosque

The mosque on Namazgâh Square is one of the oldest mosques in the city and it is thought to have been built by Yavuz Sultan Selim. In front of it there is a platform with a height of 3 meters in the small courtyard for reciting the azan. The wooden roof over the main space is covered with tiles.

Kestane Pazarı Mosque

Hacı Ahmet Ağa, the son of Emin, built this mosque in the center of İzmir, in the place called Kestane Pazarı (Chestnut Market), in 1079 with the hijri calendar (1663). Made of cut stone and rubble stone, the mosque has two floors and there are shops and warehouses on the lower floor. In front of the mosque, which was climbed by stairs, there is a last congregation place with three domes and it is recently surrounded by glass. The place of worship has a square plan. It is covered with a dome with squinch. The main dome is supported by small domes at the corners. In the nineteenth century, a section brought from the Isa Bey Mosque in Selçuk was added to the upper part of the niche-shaped mihrab. The minaret to the west of the mosque has a round body on a cut stone base and a single balcony.

Kemeraltı Mosque

Located on 853rd Street of Anafartalar Avenue and in Kemeraltı Bazaar, Kemeraltı Mosque was built in 1671 by Yusuf Çamazade Ahmet Ağa. The mosque is stuck between shops and buildings.

There is a three-domed last congregation place in front of the mosque which is made of cut stone. The place of worship has a square plan and it is covered with a dome with a central squinch. The outer edges of the mosque are lighted up by a window with high round arches. In addition, the place of worship is ligted up by windows in two rows. The lower row of these consists of round arches and the second row of windows is in the form of circles.

The interior of the mosque is decorated with hand-drawn motifs dated to the eighteenth century. This decoration was restored in compliance with its former shape during the second half of the twentieth century.

The minaret with cut stone base has a round body and a single balcony. Adjacent to the mosque there is a fountain built in the eighteenth century.

Naturzade / Kadızade Mosque

It is located in Konak District, Tan Neighborhood, 838th street no 27. The mosque is thought to have been built in the second half of the seventeenth century or in the beginning of the nineteenth century, but it is not known by whom it was built. There was an extensive restoration in 1874 by Hacı Mustafa Efendi. In some sources, the mosque is referred to as 'Kadızade Mosque' or 'Natırzade Mosque'. There is a small grave in its garden.

Salepçioğlu Mosque

Salepçioğlu Mosque is located in Konak Esnaf Şeyhi Neighborhood on Dr. Faik Muhittin Adam Street (850th Street), which is formerly known as Şamil Street. Salepçioğlu Mosque was built between 1897-1907 under the supervision of Kadi of İzmir Mehmet Emin Efendi in accordance with the will of Salepçizade Hacı Ahmet Efendi.

Today, there is Salepçioğlu Bazaar in the former place of the large and small Salepçioğlu inns. The mosque is connected to Kemeraltı through this bazaar on its north. The most important characteristic of Salepçioğlu Mosque, which is one of the mosques built in the early twentieth century in İzmir, is that it has fevkani (fevkani: elevated) structure. Another example of the mosque and madrasah with the same architectural style is the Hüdavendigar Mosque in Bursa. However, in the Hüdavendigar Mosque, unlike the Salepçioğlu Mosque, the madrasah is located on the upper floor and the mosque is located on the lower floor. In this respect, the mosque is an interesting example.

Şadırvan Mosque

Located in the historical Kemeraltı Bazaar on the shores of the Old Inner Harbor, this mosque was named after the fountain with eight columns located next to and under the mosque. For this reason, it is also called Şadırvanaltı Mosque. The mosque was built in 1636 and restored in 1815.

The mosque stands on a high basement and there is a large bazaar underneath. Therefore, there are two separate entrances from the north and the west by stairs. The staircases leading to the northern gate remained neglected and later closed and then replaced with shops. Today, the last congregation place can be reached by 29 steps on the western side of the mosque.

Şeyh Mosque

The mosque is located in Konak district, between 946-961 Streets and takes its name from the caliphs of Aziz Mahmud Hüdaî Efendi who lies in the tomb next to the mosque and from Sheikh Mustafa Efendi from the Halvetiye sect. This mosque was probably built in the middle of the XVII. century. The mosque, which was tiled already during the time of Evliya Çelebi, was repaired in 1809.

Yalı Mosque (Konak Mosque)

Yalı (Konak) Mosque, one of the most elegant mosques in İzmir significant with its glazed tiles and octagonal plan, was built in 1754 by Ayşe Hanım, the daughter of Mehmet Paşa, in front of the Government House in İzmir Konak Square. During World War I, Rahmi Bey repaired the damaged mosque in 1336 according to the Hijri calendar (1920). An inscription indicating this repair is located on the entrance door. The mosque was repaired once more in 1964.

Built with the classical Ottoman architecture style, the mosque has an octagonal plan with a single dome and a single minaret. It attracts attention with the glazed tiles that surround the windows. Stone and brick were used together in the construction. A small dome, which is built on an octagonal frame, covers the worship area. The interior of the mosque is decorated with glazed tiles. There is a minaret with a single balcony and a round body built on a cut stone base.

Odunkapulu Mosque

It is a wooden mosque in Konak on 427 Sokak. According to its inscription, it was made in 1757; whereas the inscription of the fountain inside shows the date of 1728. The mosque gained its current appearance probably after being burned many times.

Hacı Osmanpaşa Mosque

This mosque is located on Zübeyde Hanım Street in the Bahariye Neighbourhood of Karşıyaka. It was built in 1901 by Hacı Osman Hilmi Paşa, the Commander of the Izmir Secondary Brigade. Being the second mosque of Karşıyaka after the Soğukkuyu Mosque, in its garden the tomb of Atatürk's mother Zübeyde Hanım can be seen. 

The Great Fire of İzmir

Many mosques were destroyed during the 1922 fire in Izmir.