The Black Sea Tradition in Aşağı Canören Village’s Mosque in Aziziye, Erzurum
Burak Muhammet GöklerThe Ottoman Empire brought many architectural works to every corner of Anatolia during the time from its founding to its collapse. The remains of these works show different features regarding the variety of plan types. While the empire tried to spread and imitate the artistic environment in the capital city of Istanbul throughout the country, this style in rural architecture gained distinction in the hands of local masters and would go on to form the classical regional architectural understandings. Located along the Silk Road, Erzurum’s location and proximity to other provinces also diversified the rural architecture of the region, with the northern districts in particular having interacted with the Black Sea Region and the interregional travels of local masters being among the most important factors that supported this. The Village is affiliated with the Aziziye District of Erzurum and represents some of the important works reflecting the Black Sea tradition in the region. The structure of the village’s mosque, whose history is fixed with its inscription, was built by a master from Bayburt between 1935-1938 during the Republican era. This claim is supported by the mihrab, minbar, pulpit, and decorative features of the building. This study aims to evaluate the architecture, interior architectural elements, and ornamental compositions of the mosque, which had remained unregistered until recently, and to determine the stylistic link between it and other Black Sea mosques. Thus, the study will use these determinations to also reveal the interregional interactions.
Karadeniz Geleneğinde Erzurum/Ilıca Aşağı Canören Köyü Camii
Burak Muhammet GöklerOsmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun kuruluşundan yıkılışa kadar geçen süreçte Anadolu’nun her bir köşesine birçok mimari eser kazandırılmıştır. Bu eserler çeşitli plan tiplerinde farklı özellikler göstermektedir. Başkent İstanbul’daki sanat ortamı her ne kadar genele yayılmaya çalışılmış ve taklit edilmiş olsa da kırsal mimaride bu üslup yerel ustaların elinde farklılık kazanmış ve bölge için klasikleşmiş mimari anlayışlar ortaya çıkarmıştır. İpek Yolu güzergâhında yer alan Erzurum, konumu ve diğer iller ile olan yakınlığı bölgenin yerel mimarisini de çeşitlendirmektedir. Özellikle kuzey ilçeleri coğrafi açıdan içinde bulundukları Karadeniz Bölgesi ile büyük ölçüde örtüşen mimari özellikler sergilemektedir. Yerel gezici ustaların bölgeler arasındaki seyahati bunu destekleyen en önemli etkenlerin başında gelmektedir. Erzurum’un Aziziye İlçesine bağlı olan Aşağı Canören Köyü, Karadeniz geleneğini yansıtan bölgedeki önemli eserlerden birisidir. Kitabesi ile tarihi geçmişi sabit olan yapının Cumhuriyet döneminde 1935-38 yılları arasında Bayburtlu bir usta tarafından inşa edildiği bilinmektedir ki bu durumu yapının mihrabı, minberi, vaaz kürsüsü ve süsleme özellikleri desteklemektedir. Bugüne kadar kayda geçmeyen ve tescili bulunmayan caminin mimarisi, iç mekândaki mimari öğeleri ve süsleme kompozisyonları değerlendirilerek yapının Karadeniz camileriyle arasındaki üslup birliğindeki bağın tespit edilmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Bu tespit ile birlikte bölgeler arasındaki etkileşimin belgelenmesine katkı sağlayacağını düşünülmektedir
The Aziziye district (previously Ilıca) is an important district of Erzurum province and forms the western part of the city. Village in Aziziye has the status of a neighborhood today and is located 82 km from the district center and 95 km from the city center. However, the village is noteworthily only 61 km away from an important central stop along the Silk Road Bayburt. Aziziye had been damaged due to the 1983 Erzurum Earthquake disaster, after which it was completely evacuated and resettled on a plain a few kilometers downstream from the old village in 2004-2005. No examples of civil architecture have survived intact in the ruined village, with the mosque in the center of the village being the only surviving religious monument. This mosque resembles Black Sea mosques in terms of its architectural elements and decorations. The studies that have been carried out to date determined that the mosque had not been registered, and thus this point shows the importance and main purpose of the current study.
Two epitaphs are found on the building. The first contains three lines found on the arch keystone of the entrance door and reads, “1354, 1938, and Ameli Rız(d)a,” which corresponds to the year 1354 AH (1935 AD). For this reason, the date 1938 must have been added as the year it was finished. The second epitaph is on the pulpit door crown. Written under the phrase “Maşallah” is the information “Master Majnoon the year 1358 AH/1939 AD” in the three-line inscription. Mecnun Usta [Master Majnoon] was a master from Bayburt who’d built the mosque. In addition, the inscription shows that the pulpit was placed a year after the construction process of the building had been completed.
The harem of the mosque extends in a north-south direction and is 8.87 x 9.58 sq. m. in size. The mosque has a wall thickness of 80 cm and was built with wooden supports using a rectangular floorplan almost approaching a square. The mihrab is made of cut stone and was oriented in parallel to the entrance door of the Harim. It has a niche that narrows from the bottom to top, similar to mihrabs in Black Sea mosques. The upward staggering of the mihrab niche is also emphasized by a row of indents.
The wooden minbar in the classical form of the mosque reveals the historical past of the building through its ornamental compositions. The flowing S-shaped curves with palmette and heart motifs on the mirror, skirting, kiosk and under kiosk sections decorate the architectural elements. The conical pulpit is a repetition of the minbar in terms of decoration but references Black Sea mosques in terms of form. An ornamental design consisting of palmettes and hearts is encountered under the balcony of the women’s prayer section, which covers the northern side of the Harem. A similar situation is in the ceiling decorations.
When evaluating the structure in terms of floorplan and architecture, it is seen to maintain the sense of a traditional village mosque with its wooden supports, as is encountered throughout Anatolia. However, the form of the mihrab and the decoration setup reveal the vernacular side of the work. The primary detail that draws attention is the fact that the mihrab, whose classic style in many places in the Black Sea region, especially in cities such as Bayburt, Rize, Artvin and Trabzon, narrows from bottom to top, does this as well in this building. Apart from the architectural details, the forms of the ornamental compositions and the woodworking technique a more reminiscent of Black Sea structures than Erzurum ones. While Erzurum structures mostly prefer stone and hand-drawn decorations, wooden decorations are more often encountered in Black Sea structures, which also supports this point.
In addition to the crescent star, curtains, rose decorations, and lotus motifs found in the Aşağı Canören Village Mosque, the frequently repeated styles of the empire-inspired flowing S-shape folds with heart and palmette figures resemble those in Black Sea Mosques. Although these decorations in the sanctuary are important in terms of the construction, the lack of tulip, bowtie, almond crossing, and wave motifs, which are classical Black Sea motifs, being used in this structure is thought to be directly related to a choice by Master Majnoon, and the fact that these classical Black Sea decorations are not generally seen in the Bayburt mosques also explains why the Master did not choose them to be found in this building.
