Located in Kaleiçi, the historical city center of Antalya, Yivli Minaret was built during the reign of Anatolian Seljuk Ruler Alaaddin Keykubat I (1220-1237). A social complex was formed around it over time, and the main structure of the social complex is the grand mosque, also known as Yivli Minaret, Yivli Minaret Mosque or Alaeddin Mosque.
General Directorate of Promotion Archive
Yivli Minaret, the symbol of Antalya, rises from the ground upwards; It consists of base, shoe, drum, body, balcony, honeycomb and cone sections. It is built of bricks on block cut stones and turns into an octagonal drum, raised at the top by chamfering at the corners. This octagonal drum is divided into niches designed in the form of panels created by rows of stones and bricks. There is a construction inscription in the niches on the western façade. From a small door on the north façade, you can climb the minaret via a ninety-step staircase. The height of the minaret is about thirty meters.
The minaret, where a new form was tried in Anatolian Turkish architecture with its design at the time it was built; It is quite remarkable with its grooved form, that is, its “weaving pattern that makes protrusions with a semicircular profile”. It is important for its structural as well as artistic value, with its segmented body of red brickwork, tile mosaic decorations, Kufic inscriptions, muqarnas balcony and blind niches. In addition, the mosque is considered to be the oldest surviving example of the multi-domed mosque type in Anatolia, with its six-domed worship space. Yivli Minare Mosque, which is recommended as a world heritage with these features, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 2016.
Other structures of Yivli Minaret Complex are Atabey Armağan Madrasa, Ulucami Madrasa, Mevlevihane, Yivli Minaret Bath, Nigâr Hatun Tomb and Zincir Kıran Mehmet Bey Tomb.
Sources:
General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums website. World Heritage Tentative List, “Yivli Minaret Mosque (Antalya) [2016].”
Turkish Religious Foundation Islamic Encyclopedia website. “Yivli Minaret Complex.”
Avcı, Ülkü. (2016). “A Landmark in Antalya Kaleiçi: Yivli Minaret.” Art-E Art Magazine, 8(15), 52-78.
Source: Antalya Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate
