Grand Mosque

Located on Divanyolu Street in the center of the city, the Grand Mosque is built in place of an old house of worship called the Red Church. The mosque, which is thought to have been built between 1170-1175, still has bells, columns and column heads and courtyard walls left over from the church can be seen. According to the inscriptions, the Grand Mosque was repaired between 1684, 1779, 1780 and 1870. The last repair was carried out by the General Directorate of Foundations between 2010 and 2011. The structure, which was converted from church to mosque, is also known as "Masjid ul-Hamra (Red Mosque)" due to this feature. The last congregation place that sat on the columns and opened to the courtyard with 14 pointed arches, the address of this architecture, which is the first in Anatolia, is the Grand Mosque. There is also a well inside the mosque. It is rumored that Jesus sends King Abgar a handkerchief with His Apostle Thomas and leaves him in this well. Therefore, this water is believed to be curative. During the Republic period, a clock was added to the minaret and the building also gained the function of a clock tower. We also have to say that the minaret is the first and only clock tower in town. The last information we will give about the mosque belongs to the shrine here. This shrine contains the tomb of Şehabeddin Ahmet, the youngest son of Mevlana Halid Ziyaeddin, the founder of the Halid tarigah.