Ahi Yusuf Mosque and Tomb

About Ahi Yusuf Mosque and Tomb

The Ahi Yusuf Mosque and Tomb is a small Seljuk-era monument in the heart of Kaleiçi, the old town of Antalya, on Mermerli Street near the old harbour. According to the description accompanying its photographs on Wikimedia Commons the building dates from 1249, and it is attributed to Ahi Yusuf, a sheikh of the Ahi brotherhood, the craftsmen's Sufi order that spread across Seljuk Anatolia; some sources add that the square building was originally a bastion of the Seljuk city wall later converted into a mosque. The complex consists of a small rubble-stone mosque with a two-storey tomb to its south: the ground floor is the burial chamber of Ahi Yusuf, while the domed upper floor served as a zawiya and prayer room. At the south-east corner stands a fountain, a later addition built from reused ancient architectural stones. A small cemetery between mosque and tomb holds three graves, one of which, by its inscription, belongs to Yusuf Kaptan of Alanya, who died in 1835. The complex was repaired in 1992 and 2008. Modest in size, it gives visitors a glimpse of Antalya's older Seljuk face among the Ottoman houses and cafes of Kaleiçi.

Where:

Antalya, Türkiye