Bulancak Şeyh Ali Ağa Cami

Bulancak District. Şeyh Ali Ağa (Şemsettin) Camii was registered as a Cultural Asset that must be protected and placed under protection by the decision dated 25.06.2009 and numbered 2211 of the High Council of Immovable Cultural and Natural Assets of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

It is written on the surface of the mosque’s north façade that it was built in 1896 (H. 1312). The first establishment of the mosque dates back to the 15th century. In the tahrir register dated 1455, it is recorded that it was commissioned by Şeyh Ali Ağa, and that its imam was his son Mevlana Hüseyin Fakih.

Built in masonry system, the structure has a longitudinal rectangular plan. In terms of materials, basalt stone in rubble form was used in the body walls, and cut andesite stone was used in the last congregation area, mouldings and jambs. On the north façade of the mosque, there is a last congregation area arranged in the form of a portico carried by four monolithic stone columns. The columns are fastened to each other with iron tie rods. The last congregation area, which is slightly raised from the ground, is reached by a four-step staircase. Its minaret, located to the west of the last congregation area, has a square base, a polygonal body (hexadecagonal), and two balconies, and the balcony railings are made of iron. The minaret is completed at the top with a finial set on a conical cap.

The entrance door located in the middle of the north façade of the harim is enclosed within a rectangular frame and is rectangular in form, with a round arch and loophole-shaped. The entrance door is made of iron and is double-leafed. The panels of the original door are decorated with a lozenge motif. The mahfil railings are wooden and arranged in the form of balustrades. The mihrab, located on the entrance axis of the south body wall, was built of cut stone material. On both sides of the mihrab are colonnettes resting on vertical rectangular bases, their upper parts segmented with mouldings. There is a lozenge motif on the surface of the colonnette bases. The colonnettes end at the top with a dentil-like capital. The mihrab niche is polygonal (from pentagon to decagon), and its semi-dome is fluted. The mihrab, enclosed externally within a rectangular frame, ends at the top with a triangular pediment. On the surface of the pediment, there is a finial in the middle and a crescent motif on each side. The minbar to the west of the mihrab is wooden and is not original. The railing of the minbar, whose side panel is plain, consists of interlocking circle motifs. The minbar, whose pavilion section is open on three sides, ends with a finial on a conical cap. The harim is covered inside with a dome in the middle of a flat wooden ceiling, and outside with a hipped roof covered with Marseille-type tiles.

Source: Giresun Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism

Places to Visit in Giresun Address: Şemsettin Mahallesi / Bulancak / Giresun