SULTAN SELIM MOSQUE

Sultan Selim Mosque, located in Karapınar, was built in 1563 by Sultan II. It was built by Selim. The structure, built as a social complex, consists of a mosque, soup kitchen, covered bazaar, inn and bath. The purpose of building the social complex around the mosque is to ensure the security of the Istanbul-Baghdad mail and trade route. This social complex was built in a very systematic way. While the bathhouse is used as a museum today, the covered bazaar is used as a bazaar and the inn is used as a cafeteria. The door of the mosque, the door of the inn and the fountain are on the same level. The fountain can be seen very easily from the door of the mosque. The inn has a long courtyard from north to south and a door opening to four sides. The gates and inns were built with cut stones. These stones are very tightly combined with each other. Buildings such as soup kitchens, warehouses, almshouses, horse stables and rest rooms were built inside the inns.

The mosque is covered with a large dome covered with lead. At the entrance of the mosque, there are 5 small domes placed on 6 white marble columns. The construction of the mosque was made of a dark gray material called Meteorite, found in the Karapınar Region. The marble stones above the entrance gate are interlocked with gears. The following prayer is written on the inscription on the entrance door of the mosque: "O our Lord! Accept this building from us and with your grace accept our repentance and show us the right path. When this high mosque is completed, our Lord is the highest. May Allah accept him. “The door of the mosque has two wings and is made of wood. The doors are made as interlocking. It is decorated with bronze lock mouths and rings. Inside the mosque, the wooden covers that cover the windows from the inside are decorated with geometric shapes and a total of 21 windows, large and small, are made. The lattice-shaped windows in the upper section are divided into small geometric shapes and colored glass is placed in these sections. The large dome rose on squinches and was built in a single dome style. The interior of the mosque, the dome and squinches are decorated with dazzling floral floral motifs.

There is the Valide Sultan Bath in the outer part of the complex. This bath is II. It was built as a charity by Selim's mother, Hürrem Sultan. The bath is in the shape of a perfect square. It was built by Mimar Sinan. It has two gates, one in the east and one in the west. Restoration works of Sultan Selim Mosque and Hürrem Sultan Bath have been carried out.