Kapu Mosque is a mosque from the Ottoman period located in the historical Konya bazaar, in the Sephevan (or Sahipata) Neighborhood of the Meram district in Konya. The street where the mosque is situated is currently called Kapı Cami Street. The building takes its name from the nearby Atpazarı Gate of the ancient Konya city walls and is also referred to as İhyaiyye or Çelebi Hüseyin Efendi Mosque in some sources.
The mosque was originally built in 1658 by Pir Hüseyin Çelebi, one of the postnişin (leaders) of the Konya Mevlevî Lodge. In 1811, the structure, which had fallen into disrepair, was rebuilt by Abdurrahman Efendi, the Mufti of Konya, also known as Eşenlerli Köse Müftü. However, during the great fire that broke out in the Konya Bazaar in 1867, the mosque and the surrounding vakıf (endowment) shops were completely burned down. After the fire, with the help of the public and the support of the city administrators, the mosque was reconstructed in 1869. For this reconstruction, stones taken from the deteriorated Konya outer castle walls at that time were used.
Interior View (Kapu Mosque)
Architecture
Kapu Mosque is built on a platform within a commercial area and does not have a courtyard. The structure integrates with the bazaar fabric, with eight shops located beneath the mosque on the north façade. The mosque has entrances on the north, east, and west façades, with the main entrance on the north side. A ten-step staircase leads to the vestibule, which is divided into nine sections by pointed arches supported by ten marble columns and covered by a flat ceiling. This section extends to the door on the west façade and is partially open to the sky.
The prayer hall (harim) of the mosque has a rectangular plan with a width and is covered by a roof supported by sixteen wooden columns. At the walls, there are flat-ceilinged sections, while the central area features elliptical and round domed sections. The roof is constructed in a traditional wooden frame style and is covered with a lead-coated gabled roof. The prayer hall is illuminated by windows on both the upper and lower parts of the walls, with reused marble moldings and lintels used in the construction.
From the West Facade (Kapu Mosque)
On the north façade, there is a second-floor gallery with a "U"-shaped plan, featuring an elliptical projection at the center. Inside the mosque, galleries extend along the north, east, and west façades. The section of the interior walls up to the window level is covered with tiles, while the upper parts are plastered. The transition elements of the dome and the window arches are adorned with pencil work decorations and calligraphic inscriptions. These decorations feature the names of "Allah" and "Muhammad," as well as the Four Caliphs (Çihâr Yâr-ı Güzîn) and the names of the Ten Companions Promised Paradise (Aşere-i Mübeşşere) in Celî Sülüs script. On the central dome, there is a band of inscriptions from the Esmaü’l-Hüsna (the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah). These inscriptions and decorations were renewed during the restoration in 1998 by Hüseyin Öksüz and Sinan Hidayetoğlu.
The mihrab is originally made of stone, but it was replaced with a tile-covered mihrab in 1998. The pulpit (minber) and the sermon stand (vaaz kürsüsü) are made of amber wood, with palmette and rumi compositions on them. The exact construction date of the pulpit is not known. To the north of the eastern entrance, in the northeast corner of the building, stands the single-balconied minaret. The base of the minaret is a square-plan stone masonry, while the upper part is cylindrical brickwork. The three blue tiles on the body of the minaret and the blue band beneath the balcony are prominent features. To the north of the minaret, a marble fountain with twelve spouts, topped with lead, was constructed by Architect Süleyman Asaf between 1920 and 1923. Another historic fountain in the baldachin style is located on the west façade of the mosque.
There are three inscriptions on the three different entrance doors of the mosque. The inscription on the eastern entrance is written in Sülüs script. The rhymed inscription on the western entrance is in two cartouches and belongs to the calligrapher Fahri. The inscription on the northern door is semicircular and features the phrase "Maşallah" along with the names of the People of the Cave (Ashab-ı Kehf) and rhymed verses attributed to Mecidiyezade Ahmet Tahir Pasha. These inscriptions document the restoration and construction processes of the mosque.
Kapu Mosque, as a significant example of late Ottoman period architecture in Konya, served as a functional center for the bazaar merchants, combining both commerce and worship. The mosque is one of the largest Ottoman-period mosques in Konya.
