Kestanepazarı Mosque, Ottoman mosque in Kemeraltı, Turkey
Kestanepazarı Mosque is a stone and marble mosque in the Kemeraltı district of Izmir, in the Konak area of Turkey. Its roof is shaped by a central dome flanked by four smaller domes at the corners, with half domes forming the curved sections of the walls.
The mosque was built in 1667 under the direction of Ahmet Ağa. In the 19th century, Eminzade Ahmet Ağa oversaw substantial changes to the building, altering parts of its original form.
The name Kestanepazarı means chestnut market in Turkish, recalling the old market that once stood nearby. Inside, visitors often notice people sitting quietly with open books, as the space is regularly used for reading religious texts outside of prayer times.
The mosque sits in the middle of the busy Kemeraltı bazaar area and is easy to reach on foot from the surrounding lanes. Those wishing to enter should dress modestly and be mindful of prayer times, when the interior is reserved for worshippers.
The mihrab inside the mosque was not made for this building: it was brought from the İsa Bey Mosque in Selçuk and installed here at some point after the original construction. This makes it one of the few prayer niches in the region that traveled from one mosque to another.
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