x0x The Fluted Minaret

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x0x The Fluted Minaret

By Ersin Toker

A mediaeval Seljuk builder whose name has long since
been forgotten climbed the ninetieth step, and from a
height of 38 metres looked around him. The
Mediterranean, that most beautiful of seas, had taken
refuge in the tiny harbour below, the last rays of the
sun playing on its surface as it set over the Bey
Mountains. The shadows of houses leaning shoulder to
shoulder darkened the narrow streets winding downhill.
A light evening breeze was blowing, carrying the cool
scent of oranges from the stone paved courtyards.
Wiping the last drop of sweat from his brow with his
sleeve, he began to descend the flight of steps winding
down inside the minaret, the oil lamp in his hand
lighting his way. The Seljuks had arrived in Adalya, as
they called Antalya, in 1207, many centuries after King
Attalos II of Pergamum had given his name to the city
that he described as heaven on earth. Now Sultan
Alaeddin I Keykubad (1219-1236) was on the throne, and
embellishing the city with the first Islamic works of
art.

In a cosmopolitan city where there were Christian
merchants of many nations and large communities of
Greeks and Jews, a minaret would be the most symbolic
structure. The Seljuks did not regard minarets only as
parts of mosques, but as monuments in their own right.
Of the many fluted and spiralling brick minarets built
by the Seljuks, the most impressive of all was the
Yivli Minare or Fluted Minaret in Antalya Castle. The
minaret rested on an ashlar stone plinth, and its eight
flutes were adorned with turquoise glazed bricks. Its
Seljuk builder could not have known that for centuries
to come his minaret would be the symbol of Antalya.
When he completed his task and returned to his humble
life, he had no idea that he had set his signature to
postcards illustrating the Antalya of the future. For
him, this was just an ordinary commission that had to
be completed on time. When the Roman emperor Hadrian
visited Antalya in the year 130, a gate in the form of
a Roman victory arch was built in the castle walls in
his honour.

The magnificent gate was flanked by columns and had
four turrets, above which rose a triple arch carved
with floral relief decoration.  Hadrian's Gate was far
more ambitious in concept than the Fluted Minaret, but
when this spire symbolising the Turkish conquest of the
city rose above the castle walls to overlook the
harbour from its strategic location near the main gate,
it took the star role. The Fluted Minaret is not the
only early Turkish building to survive in Antalya. The
old quarter of the city around the harbour is also home
to Yivli Minare Mosque, Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev Medrese,
Selçuklu Medrese, and the türbes (mausoleums) of
Zincirkiran Mehmed Bey and Nigâr Hatun. Yivli Minare
Mosque, with its six domes, is one of the oldest
examples of the multi-domed mosque type in Antalya.
Yivli Minare Mosque was built in 1372 just west of the
older minaret after which it was named. It was founded
by Mübarizeddin Mehmed Bey, ruler of the Turkish
Hamidogullari Emirate, and its architect was Balaban
Tavasi.

The mosque was home to Antalya Museum until the new
museum building was constructed. Giyaseddin Keyhüsrev
Medrese was a college built in 1239 by the Seljuk
governor Armaðan in the sultn'so name. Selçuklu Medrese
facing it has been restored and now contains shops. One
of the two mausoleums in the grounds of Yivli Minare
Mosque was built in 1377 by Mübarizeddin Mehmed Bey for
his son Zincirkiran Mehmed Bey. The architecture is
Seljuk in style, although the plain exterior, windows,
and the fact that the three tombs inside are below
ground level are characteristics of Ottoman
architecture. The Mevlevi dervish lodge west of the
mausoleum is thought to have been built in 1225 by
Sultan Alaeddin I Keykubad. The mausoleum to the
northwest of the Fluted Minaret was built in 1502, and
so belongs to the Ottoman period, although the
architecture is Seljuk in style, in keeping with the
surrounding buildings.

Having descended the last step, the anonymous Seljuk
builder turned and locked the minaret door with a great
key that he had taken from the sash around his waist.
Kissing it, he hung it on the hook. The oil in his lamp
was almost finished, and the flame flickered
uncertainly.  He looked up. It was a full moon, and the
sky was bright with thousands of stars. The minaret was
completed and his task over. Now it belonged to
Antalya, one of the Mediterranean's loveliest cities.
He entered one of the streets descending towards the
sea that led to his house and walked into oblivion.

* Ersin Toker is a freelance writer