Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Mosque

Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Mosque

Hacı Bayram-ı Veli, whose birth name was Numan-bin Koyunluca Ahmet (or Koyuncu in Turkish), was born in the Solfasol village of Ankara in 1352. He was a Sufi poet, composer, and the founder of the Bayrami sect. After completing his education in Ankara and Bursa, he began teaching at Karamedrese, an Islamic theological school built by Meklik Hatun. The Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Mosque, located near the Ulus District in Ankara next to the Augustus temple, was originally built in 1427. The mosque's current architecture is a combination of late 17th and 18th-century styles, with sections in the north and west added later.

Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Mosque

The mosque has a rectangular plan, and a two-gallery minaret with a square base and brick body is located on the southeast side of the mausoleum. The late-comer's section on the southern wall features an inscription in large Arabic calligraphy that reads "In the Name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful" (Kelime-i Tevhid). The central hexagonal rosette is framed by six rows of flowered decorations, and a smaller version of this rosette can be seen in the rectangular panel on the ceiling of the annexed section to the west, which is separated from the main hall. The ceilings in both sections are decorated with flower-patterned cornices.

The lower-level windows of the mosque are rectangular and feature wrought-iron grates, while the exterior windows have niches composed of pointed arches. The upper windows have pointed arches and stained glass, bordered by chiseled marble motifs. Inside the mosque, Kütahya tiles adorn the walls up to the height of the windows, transitioning to a plain wall with bordering chiseled palmettes. The Mihrab, which is a niche in the wall of a mosque indicating the direction of Mecca for prayer, is decorated with a cross-section of stalactites. The corners feature an elegant inscription from the Koran in five rows on the pediment, while the borders of the Mihrab also feature the Koran. The colorful Mimbar is a fine example of craftsmanship, made using the false "Kundekari" technique. The mosque's engravings were done by Nakkaş Mustafa. Two inscriptions on a wall indicate that it was restored by one of Hacı Bayramı Veli's grandsons in 1714.