Great Mosque

Hikayemiz

Ulu Cami is a 16th-century mosque in Adana, Turkey. It forms part of a complex that includes a madrasah and a mausoleum . The buildings are on Kızılay street, next to the Ramazanoğlu Hall.HistoryThe construction of the Ulu Cami was begun in 1513 by Ramazanoğlu Halil Bey and completed by his son and successor, Piri Mehmet Paşa, in 1541. For 450 years, until the building of the Sabancı Merkez Camii, the Ulu Cami was the largest mosque in Adana. It was damaged in the 1998 Adana–Ceyhan earthquake and the restoration by the General Directorate of the Foundations (Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü) was completed in 2004.The mosqueThe building carries features of Mamluk, Seljuk and the Ottoman architectural design. The western entrance is older than the main building and differs in style from the part built by Ramazanoğlu Halil Bey. The conical stalactite roof that rises step by step above the entrance has the features of Seljukid architecture. This gives an indication that Ramadanids, who were a small beylik (emirate) in the early 16th century, initially built a small mosque, and later built the main building beside it when the beylik expanded and the small mosque was no longer sufficient.The Ulu Cami, as a whole, has a rectangular plan with dimensions of 34.5x. The courtyard is entered through large gates on the west and the east sides. The northern section of the courtyard is covered with a wooden roof supported on pillars and thus can serve as an extension to the prayer hall and as an outdoor area for praying in summer. At the east end of the courtyard the entrance at the side of the main hall, is decorated with black and white marble panels. The semi-pointed arches are decorated with stalactite and flower motifs.