Completed in 1220, the Alaeddin Camii is the oldest known Seljuk mosque in Turkey. It is built into the hill that forms the citadel of Konya; its pointed arch and round domes atop two tombs are prominent features in Konya's cityscape. With the exception of Izzeddin Keykavus, all of the Seljuk sultans after 1156 are interred in the complex.
Its oblong, hypostyle plan is influenced by Arabic classical architecture, but it is very much a Seljuk building. In fact, it is an agglomeration of two major rebuilding campaigns undertaken by both Sultan Izzeddin Keykavus and Sultan Alaeddin Keykavus.
The entrance portal is decorated in alternating grey and white marble and intricately interlocking voussiours. The building itself is made of a variety of stone types, many of them reused from Byzantine buildings.
Once inside the building the hall is divided into bays and aisles by 42 columns reused from antique buildings. These support the vaulted stone ceiling. The ebony minbar dates to 1155 and is probably the only element surviving from the earliest mosque. The mihrab is tiled in three shades of blue, and was probably built by Kerimeddin Erdim Shah, who built the dome.
Sources:
Ertug, Ahmet, ed. 1991. The Seljuks: A Journey Through Anatolian Architecture. Istanbul: Ahmet Ertug, 219.
Redford, Scott. 1991. "The Alaeddin mosque in Konya reconsidered." Artibus Asiae. V. 51, no 1-2, p 54-74.
Rice, Tamara Talbot. 1967. The Seljuks in Asia Minor. New York: Praeger, 280.
Stierlin, Henry. 1998. Turkey: From the Selçuks to the Ottomans. New York: Taschen, 240.
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