Ulu Cami

Erzurum


This restrained but elegant mosque was built in 1179 by Erzurum's Saltuk Turkish emir. Seven aisles run north–south and six run east–west, resulting in a forest of columns and pointed arches. In the central north–south aisle, a stalactite dome opens to the heavens above the third bay.

At the central aisle's southern end, the bay before the mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca), sports two 'elephant-eye' windows and a traditional kırlangıç (swallow) dome of overlapping wooden-beams.


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