Ancient Traces Route · Stop 1
Its name comes from its minaret — but that minaret is not the first one. The first was of wood; an earthquake and two fires took it away.
It was built between 1237-1247, in the reign of Sultan Gıyasettin Keyhüsrev II, by Necmettin Ferruh Bey.4 It is one of the important works to have survived from the Seljuks.1
The mosque stands out for its simple structure. What is really showy is its minaret — and that minaret was built later.
Grooves winding round the shaft.
The flutes on the minaret's stone shaft do not run straight up; they twist like a corkscrew. That is where the name comes from (burmalı means twisted).5
But this minaret is not the mosque's first. The building's first minaret, which was of wood, was damaged in the 1590 earthquake and the 1602 fire, and completely destroyed in the great fire of 1730. In its place, in keeping with the stone building, the twisted, fluted stone minaret formed by grooves winding round it was built.5
So the mosque's name comes from a part built some five hundred years after the mosque itself. Had the wooden minaret not burned, this mosque might be known by another name.
Necmettin Ferruh Bey has the mosque built.4
Earthquake. The wooden minaret is damaged.5
Fire. The wooden minaret is damaged again.5
The great fire. The wooden minaret is completely destroyed; in its place the twisted stone minaret is built.5
Long abandoned and in ruins, the mosque is used as a storehouse for the farm implements of the Ziraat Bankası (the Agricultural Bank).3
It is thoroughly repaired, its minaret completed, and, restored, it reopens for worship.3
Its domes are clad in copper.3
One earthquake, two fires, a period of abandonment and a spell as a storehouse. The building has managed to survive, but every layer on it carries the mark of a disaster.
Because it adjoins the mosque, the Cumudar Tomb is also known as the “Tomb of the Burmalı Minare Mosque”. It is octagonal, on a square base; it is covered by a dome inside and a conical roof outside.2
The kümbet originally belonged to Ferruh Bey and his son. But it does not take its present name from them: it is called this because the mummy of Prince Cumudar was kept here in the Ilkhanid period.2
That mummy is no longer here. Prince Cumudar is today one of the eight mummies in the mummy hall of the Amasya Museum.6 The tomb still takes its name from someone who is no longer in it.
Go to the foot of the minaret and pick one groove. Follow it upwards with your eyes: it does not go straight up, it winds round the shaft. That is the whole point; the mosque's name comes from this movement.5
Then look at the stone. This minaret was built after 1730; the body of the mosque dates from 1237-1247.4, 5 Can the five hundred years between them be read in the colour and workmanship of the stone?
Last, walk round to the north-east corner: there, adjoining the mosque, is an octagonal tomb.2 A prince's mummy once lay inside.
Every factual statement on this page rests on one of the sources below. Titles are given in their original Turkish so that they can be found; quotations from them are our translations.
