Fortress Mosque

In the 14th Century, the Turks captured Kadifekale and built a mosque there. Evliya Çelebi claims – based on an inscription that has not survived – that it was built in 1308/1309 by Hacı İlyas ibn Ahmed, who was the castle’s qadi (Islamic judge). This therefore renders it the oldest Turko-Islamic structure in İzmir, as it dates back to the early years of the Aydınoğulları conquest.

Evliya Çelebi expressed that after the Lower Castle (Port Castle) was captured, the locals migrated, leaving the mosque’s congregation to be made up of only the castle officials. The mosque was eventually abandoned, and fell into disrepair. Foreign travellers often mistook what remained of it for a chapel, even associated it with St. Polycarp. In contrast, recent excavation work confirms its status as a typical Islamic place of worship.

Today, many think that the vaulted cistern adjacent to the east of the mosque was later added on to supply the congregation and castle inhabitants water needs.