Abstract:

Along with being one of the oldest settlements in the Middle Black Sea region, Amasya is also among the significant princely sanjaks of the Ottomans. Carrying the traces of many civilizations, Amasya has many artifacts. These artifacts show themselves in the center, districts, village sand towns of Amasya, and the foremost of them are Merzifon, which hosts different architectural building types, most of which are mosques and masjids. Some of the Merzifon mosques and masjids are the subject of general studies on architecture or decorative arts, and some of them are the subject of stand-alone publications. However, no detailed study has been carried out on the mihrab decorations in Merzifon mosques and masjids. It is important in terms of Art History to reveal mihrabs in detail. This study discusses the elements of decoration applied in Merzifon mosque and masjid mihrabs. As a result of the research, a total of 28 mihrabs were identified in Merzifon; however, most of the mihrabs lost their originality for some reason. Since 12 of the 28 mihrabs have a simple structure, 16 mihrabs with ornamental elements were evaluated in this study. 15 of the 16 mihrabs are in mosques and one mihrab is in the masjid. Ornamental elements of the examined mihrabs were evaluated in five groups as herbal, geometric, Qur'an icinscriptions, muqarnas decorations, hand-drawn and other motifs.

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