International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Hilâl Aktur
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey; 
[e-mail]
Spolia Use in the Mosques in Manisa
Turkish–Islamic cities in Anatolia were established either at or near sites of continuous 
settlement since Antiquity, Roman and Byzantine times. In the structures dating from the Anatolian 
Seljuq and Beylik era cities founded on the sites, a tendency for intensive use of materials from 
previous periods is observed. These repurposed architectural elements are termed as spolia. The 
broadest definition of spolia in architecture is the reuse of an architectural material previously used 
in another structure, with a similar or a different function. Manisa is one of the Western Aegean 
cities where spolia are intensively used in the Turkish–Islamic period structures.
Within the scope of this study, primarily the following structures in Manisa City Centre 
are studied: İlyas Bey Masjid (Mescit) (1362) and Manisa Great Mosque and Complex (Külliye) 
(1366) from the Sarukhanid period; Ali Bey Mosque (1418), Hacı Yahya (İki Lüleli) Mosque (1474), 
Çeşnigir Mosque (1474), İvaz Paşa Mosque and Complex (Külliye) (1484), Hatuniye Mosque and 
Complex (Külliye) (1490-1491), İbrahim Çelebi Mosque (1549), Hüsrev Ağa Mosque and Complex 
(külliye) (1554-1558), Lala Mehmed Paşa Mosque (1569-1570), Arapalan (Defterdar Mahmut 
Efendi) Mosque and Fountain (1582) from the period of Beylik of Osmanoğulları. A literature 
survey was conducted in parallel with the detection of the Byzantine era spolia, leading to data 
on the construction dates of the buildings. Further research was carried out in the Republic of 
Turkey General Directorate of Foundations Archives to study, where available, the foundation 
certificate charters of the buildings, and determine the restoration processes they have endured. 
The examination of technical documents and photographs from this archive proved significant in 
terms of identifying spolia that went undetected in the direct study of the structures. 
The Byzantine era structures in Manisa do not survive today. The limited information on 
the Byzantine era of the city is obtained through the writings of the historian Doukas. In the 
rather inadequate excavation works conducted in the city, the focus was on Antiquity rather than 
the Byzantine era; whereby the Byzantine levels were removed without sufficient analysis and 
documentation. This study aims to reveal the traces of the Byzantine era through the identification 
of spolia which date back to Byzantine era, in the mosques and complexes of Sarukhanid and 
Osmanoğulları periods in Manisa City Centre. In line with this, the significance of spolia use in the 
aforementioned religious structures within the Turkish–Islamic architecture will be investigated.

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