Gazi University Journal of Science GU J Sci 29(1):49-58 (2016) The Documentation of Rural Wooden Minarets in Akseki- Manavgat- İbradi Regions of Antalya and Determination of Their Construction Systems Özlem SAĞIROĞLU1, 1Gazi University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, 06570 Ankara, TÜRKİYE Received: 07/12/2015 Accepted: 24/02/2016 ABSTRACT The target of this study is documenting the wooden minarets of Akseki İbradı and Manavgat districts of Antalya; which havenot been studied or published yet. Although there are many wooden minarets in Anatolia, the rural minarets of Akseki-Manavgat-İbradı region are typologically different in shape, construction and are unique in the region. Within this research, the region examined and the rural wooden minarets which exists today are determined and documented. The historic information which can be obtained, the measured drawings , photographs and construction details which can be taken, presented. Keywords:Timber - Wooden Minaret, Rural Architecture, Akseki, Manavgat, İbradı 1. INTRODUCTION In every period of history, Antalya province is one of and Ottoman Empire continues to be important, our provinces subjected to the settlement with its ports, especially in the context of cultural and marine tourism fertile soil, forests and climate features. Its history today. In the city where many civilizations had settled, starting with Karain and Beldibi caves belonging to monumental buildings, the ancient city remnants and Paleolithic era can be followed by the remaining traces rural architectural heritage have been in existence as of Greek and Roman civilizations to the present day [1]. intertwined. Wooden minarets which are the subject of The province keeping its importance during the Seljuk Corresponding author, e-mail:[email protected] 50 GU J Sci, 29(1):49-58 (2016)/ Özlem SAĞIROĞLU this study constitute important examples of rural 2. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE architectural heritage of the recent past. MINARETS IN AKSEKİ, MANAVGAT AND İBRADIDISTRICTS It is encountered with the mosques with wooden minarets in almost every region of Anatolia having For wooden minarets available in the rural areas of the access to wood. In almost all of these minarets, the province of Antalya, Akseki, İbradı and Manavgat boom pole 'seren' fixed as the main core, carries districts that arethe region, where they were detected to body/shaft 'gövde', balcony 'şerefe', spire 'külah' and be the most intensively, were selected. For the stairs as a whole. Seren usually embedded into the load documentation of minarets that survived to the present bearing walls provides minarets rising from the roof of day, it was reached to some of the villages of these the mosque. The steps arranged around seren are again districts by car and it has been given information by usually covered with timber cover boards. As in contacting the head of the village 'mukhtar' of some of masonry minarets, it is reached to the minaret balcony them. In this way, by scanning all the villages in the by a door opened from the upper part 'petek' of the region, existing minarets today have been determined minaret, at the end of the stairs[2,3,4,5]. and documented in situ. In each of the villages -without exception-that are reachedor communicated for the In Antalya province, it is also encountered with such documentation of minarets, it was learned that there had wooden minarets. Among them, Alanya Gücüoğlu been wooden minarets in the past. According to the Mosque (beginning of 20th century) and Antalya İskele information taken from the elderly people and the Mosque (1903) can be listed [3].The minarets of these mukhtar in the villages, the mosques and minarets that mosques had been designed to be very different from had not been repaired were destroyed and reinforced each other in terms of size, ornamentation and quality. concrete mosques and minarets were made instead of Butwhen going to rural areas towards Taurusfrom the them. With the construction of new mosques, traditional city center of Antalya to the north, minaret architecture mosques and their minarets are left in some villages and is being specialized to this region and forms a certain- their destructions by natural causesare ignored. Some of unique type. The steps of these minarets where 'seren' these minarets that have not survived aredocumented carries the 'şerefe' and 'külah' in a completely clear way and photographed by the authors and explorers. For separately are designed to reach from the inside of the example, while the minaret in Geriş district was being courtyard to the minaret balcony as unrelated to 'seren'. photographed by 'Özkaynak', "Geriş town burned down This type of minarets, very few of which are able to in 1953.Pay attention to the peculiarities of the village survive today, constitutes the important elements of minarets"[6] is noted under the photograph. Like him, rural architectural heritage of Akseki, İbradı and 'Sümbül' presents the photograph of the minaret that Manavgat region.As there is no study made about them, have been destroyed today with the information the documentation of these minarets has a great "Villagers are preparing to construct new and big importance before their extinction. mosque"in the notes he gave about Günyaka village [7]. Figure 1.Old photo of Geriş town (a) [6], Old photo of Günyaka village(b)[7]. Within the scope of the study, 6 minaretsaccording to destroyed by the villagers with the aim of renewal in this topology were detected in the region. Of these September 2015 when the study of this paper was made. minarets, the ones within the boundaries of Akseki All kinds of data related to construction systemare district are in Belenalan village, Çimiköy village, obtained by theremoving parts of thiscollapsed minaret Güzelsu village and Akarca recreational facilities area. and by determination of the details. Instead of the The one within the boundary of İbradı district is in destroyed minaret, still according to this typology, a Ormana village. And the unique minaret within the new minaret was made using new wooden elements by boundaries of Manavgat district is in Yaylaalan village. the villagers. Yaylaalan old mosque minaret located in here was GU J Sci, 29(1):49-58 (2016)/ Özlem SAĞIROĞLU 51 2.1. Belenalan Old Mosque in Belenalan Village The mosque is located at the center of Belenalan village and in adjacent location with the courtyard on the Belenalan village is located in the borders of Akseki western side of Belenalan elementary school. The district and at the 94th kilometer of Manavgat-Konya entrance to the mosque is made under the notch boards highway. There is Çanakpınar village in the east, of minaret stairs and late commer's area ‘son cemaat Bucakalan and Büyükalan villages in the west and mahalli’ on the western front. Also an imam room used Sarıhacılar village in the north. There is only a little as a storeroom at late comers area is opened. The main information about Belenalan old mosque. There is not entrance of the praying section 'Harim' is ensured by an an instruction panel 'kitabe' on the mosque, and besides original double winged wooden door -locally named as there is no written or oral information about having in 'Borta'-in size of 162 x 225 cm on north wall. There is a the past, it has not been encountered with any trail that women’s section 'mahfel' starting with the stairs just might indicate where the instruction panel is. The only next to the entrance. (Fig.2a) written document that can be found on the old mosque is written by 'Enhoş'. In this publication; there is the Wooden altar 'mihrap' on the south wall of the praying expression that "To the mosque built by Çimi’li Mir section is unique and featureless. The pulpit 'mimber' on Miran Abdi Pasha in Belen, Esseyyid Mustafa bin the western side of the altar is an important sample of Ahmed was appointed as preacher in 1883” [1]. The qualified woodworking and its original version has been other authors giving information about the kept like the altar. The windows and timber lids village,transferred this text. In this context, taking the 'karakapak' are not original and they have beenchanged year of 1883 as the construction year of the mosque can within time. be possible with precautionary record. Figure 2. The measured drawing (a,b,e) and photographs (c,d) of Belenalan old mosque [8]. Climbing to the minaret where a single monolithic walls of the mosque on the other side. After the cedar trunk is used as a boom pole ,that is 1015 cm in platform, a wooden arch was designed at the beginning height, is provided with L-shaped staircase starting of the stairs ongoing to the minaret balcony. It is adjacent to the courtyard wall. Minaret ladder was accessed to the minaret balcony with 18 steps after this constructed with the method of fitting the dovetailed arch. There is a timber guard rail that is 72 cm in height steps 'basak' between two notch boards (Fig.2d). The ,constructed on notch boards, on both sides of the stairs size of the steps are 21 x 41 cm and it is in a width to (Fig.2b,c,d,e). allow only one person to pass. After the first 12 steps, it is reached to a platform at +2.93 level. The platform is The minaret balcony was designed as anoctagon having 29x54 cm in size and it is fitted on notch boards from about 47.5 cm ateach side. Boom pole extends to the one side and timber girders extended out of load bearing end ornament 'alem' by passing right through the center of the minaret balcony. There are plain timber plates which are about 80 cm in height and designed between 52 GU J Sci, 29(1):49-58 (2016)/ Özlem SAĞIROĞLU the timbercolumns at the edge of the minaret balcony as mentor of Sultan Abdülmecit [1,6,7] Madrasah is guard rail.