Urfa Pazar (Hodja Ahmet) Mosque Repair and Conservation Practices
Abstract
Located in the central part of the Southeastern Anatolian region, Urfa is a multi-layered and multi-cultural city that bears the traces of many states and principalities to the present day. The city, at the crossroads of Eastern and Western civilisations, has religious buildings belonging to different faiths. It is known that there were 34 mosques in the city in the 16th century and 22 mosques in the 17th century. The Pazar Mosque, which is the subject of this study, is located in the traditional Kovacı Arcade in Urfa Haşimiye Square. Kovacı Arcade with which the mosque has become integrated is made up of indoor and outdoor shops. The fact that the mosque has always been preferred for special occasions such as Friday Prayers and Salaat Al Eid for religious rituals and the fact that shopping has been done before and after such religious services have enhanced the appeal of the mosque along with its surroundings. However, this situation, had led the way for various additions to be made to the shops and the structure itself which in turn had given rise to a change in its original form. The aim of the study is to convey the informed and uninformed interventions that the mosque had been subjected to in relation to its use from the year 1987 when it had been registered as a listed building and the year 2023 and also to convey the approaches undertaken for the mosque for which the damages and problems have been documented within 2012 under the consultancy of the author.
Keywords
Şanlıurfa, Pazar Mosque, restoration.
Ethical Statement
The article complies with national and international research and publication ethics.
Thanks
The author served as a consultant in the survey, restitution and restoration project of Şanlıurfa Pazar Mosque, which is the subject of this study. Consultancy was provided within the scope of Dicle University Revolving Fund. I would like to present my thanks to Şanlıurfa Regional Directorate for Foundations and Şanlıurfa Regional Directorate for Conservation of Cultural Heritage for sharing the archive documentation regarding Pazar Mosque for this study and for their help. The article complies with national and international research and publication ethics.
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