SANAT TARIHI DERGISI, vol.29, no.2, pp.707-743, 2020 (ESCI)
The fact that Trabzon, which is located within the borders of the Eastern Black
Sea Region, has a rich flora and wide forests thanks to its climatic features has caused the
intensive use of wooden materials in architecture. The wood, which we encounter mostly
in rural areas with civil buildings such as houses and granaries; religious buildings such as
mosques and masjids in Trabzon, appears as a material contributing to the originality of the
19th century architecture. The wood has been a material that is used not only in exterior
architecture but also in interior architecture in the region. One of the most significant
reflections of the application is the wooden mihrabs. The Mihrabs, about which various
views are put forward on their emergence, symbolism and architectural form, exhibiting a
unique development in different geographies and periods with their forms, materials and
ornamental features are the most attractive interior architectural elements of mosques.
The mihrabs that carry the sense of glory seen in the portals to the interior, maintain this
tradition in the Black Sea Region. The aim of the study is to examine the wooden mihrabs
of nine Late Ottoman-period mosques built between 1813-1893 in Trabzon. Mosques with
mihrabs are small-sized structures that shape the rural architecture of the region. The
period in which these mihrabs were constructed was under the influence of the Empire
style since the beginning of the 19th century and of the Eclectic styles after the second
half of the century. When we go further away from Istanbul, then-the capital, stylistic
effects of the period transform into a unique regional form and this can be observed clearly
in mihrabs in Trabzon. Wooden mihrabs in Trabzon mosques are examples that reveal
unique forms by combining the stylistic effects of the period in which they were built with
regional architectural, material and ornamental features. They are rectangular masses with
semicircular crossing niches usually in the middle of southern walls of mosques. None of
these mihrabs has cap stone and recessed arch. Rectangular framework is delimited by
curbs and niche cove is embroidered progressively from bottom to top. Decorations on these
mihrabs are seen more in panels and surrounding curbs in both sides of the niche. Different
and effective S-curve branches and tulips attached to these branches in the decoration,
C-curves, guilloche, almond-like transitions, passionflower, rosette flowers, fans, star and
crescent as well as pomegranate motifs are seen in the decoration. In addition, the harmony
of the mihrabs with the minbar, the balustrades of the mahfil, the sermon rostrums and the
door wings brings an atmosphere that integrates the warm appearance of the wood with a
decorative movement.
Bu çalışma, Trabzon’da 1813-1893 yılları arasında inşa edilen dokuz Geç
dönem Osmanlı camiinde bulunan ahşap mihrapları inceleme odaklıdır. Mihrapların
yapıldığı zaman dilimi XIX. yüzyılın başlarından itibaren Ampir üslup ve yüzyılın ikinci
yarısından sonra Eklektik üslupların etkisindedir. İncelenen mihraplar dönemin üslupsal
özelliklerini bölgesel mimari ve süsleme tarzı ile kaynaştıran özgün örneklerdir. Başkent
İstanbul’dan uzaklaştıkça dönemin üslup etkileri giderek kendine özgü bölgesel bir biçim
diline dönüşmekte ve bu durum Trabzon mihraplarında da etkin bir şekilde izlenmektedir.
Ahşap mihraplar cami güney duvarlarının ortasında genellikle yarı daire kesitli nişlere
sahip dikdörtgen kütlelerdir. Mihrapların hiçbirinde tepelik ve kavsara yoktur. Dikdörtgen
çerçeve bordürlerle belirlenmiş, niş oyuntusu aşağıdan yukarıya doğru kademeli bir şekilde
ele alınmıştır. Mihrap süslemeleri nişin her iki yanındaki panolar ve çevre bordürlerinde
yoğunlaşmıştır. Süslemelerde farklı ve etkili S kıvrım dallar ve bu dalların uçlarına
yerleştirilen laleler, C kıvrımlar, zincirek, badem geçme, çarkıfelek, rozet çiçek, yelpaze,
ay yıldız ve nar motifleri görülmektedir.