Laal Pasha Mosque is a Medieval mosque in Mut

Mut, Mersin

Mut is a town and district of Mersin Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey.Mut is a rural district at the foot of the Sertavul Pass on the road over the Taurus Mountains from Ankara and Konya to the Mediterranean coast at Anamur or Silifke...

 in Mersin Province

Mersin Province

The Mersin Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital is the city of Mersin and the other major town is Tarsus, birthplace of St Paul...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. (Names such as Lal Pasha, Lael Pasha and Lala Agha are also used.)

History

Laal Pasha was a high ranking bureaucrat in the Turkmen state of Karamanids in Anatolia

Anatolia

Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

. In his youth he was a servant of Alaaddin Bey of Karaman. But Alaadin Bey had him trained and he was appointed as the governor of various cities in the realm of Karaman including Niğde

Nigde

Niğde is a small city and the capital of Niğde Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. The population is 109,724 per the 2010 statistics...

 and Mut. Laal Pasha Mosque had been constructed by Laal Pasha with the orders of the Ibrahim Bey

İbrahim II of Karaman

-Background:During the post-Seljuks era in the second half of the middle ages, numerous Turkmen principalities which are collectively known as Anatolian beyliks emerged in Anatolia. Initially Karamanids centered around the modern provinces of Karaman and Konya, was the most important power in...

 of Karaman at about 1444. After 1471, all territories of Karaman state were conquered by the Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 commander Gedik Ahmed Pasha

Gedik Ahmed Pasha

Gedik Ahmed Pasha was an Ottoman grand vizier as well as an army and navy commander during the reigns of sultans Mehmed the Conqueror and Beyazid II....

. During the war, many buildings constructed by Karamanids were demolished. But Laal Pasha Mosque survived. According to the inscriptions of the mosque, there had been two large scale repairs in the past. The minaret

Minaret

A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....

 which was completely ruined had been rebuilt as recently as 50 years ago.

The plan of the mosque

The mosque at 36°38′40"N 33°26′10"E, is in the midtown between a castle and a caravansarai both of which are equally old as the mosque is. The plan of the mosque is square which would later on be popular style in Ottoman architecture. There is big dome which was constructed by flat face stones.The nartex had been covered by five small domes. In the mosque courtyard, there are two small conical mouseloums one original and one added by the Ottomans. According to Evliya Çelebi

Evliya Çelebi

Evliya Çelebi was an Ottoman traveler who journeyed through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years.- Life :...

, the 17th century-Turkish travel writer, Laal Pasha's grave is in the first mouseloum.