Wooden-Pillared Sille Çay Mosque and Its Wooden Elements

Abstract

The use of wood, a traditional building material, in historical mosques dates back to ancient times. The use of wood, which has a wide range of applications in mosques, in the load-bearing system of the building is seen as a distinctive feature of the building. The reason for this situation is that the number of mosques in which wood is used in the load-bearing system is low today. Wooden-pillared mosques, which belong to different periods and have different plan types, can be found in different regions and cities. One of these types of structures, which are frequently encountered especially in Central and Inner Western Anatolia, is the Sille Çay Mosque in Konya. The goal of this study is to document the Sille Çay Mosque as an example of a mosque with wooden columns and to reveal its original aspect. In this context, a sketch of the current state of the building was prepared by examining the building; the architectural elements in the building were photographed, and their ornaments were analyzed. As a result, it was observed that woodworking was used extensively in the mosque, which has a basilical plan typology among the 19th-century wooden-pillared mosques, especially in the pulpit, mihrab, and lectern, and suggestions were made for the restoration of the structure.