Kayyımzade Mosque

The Kayyımzade Mosque (also known as Ali Efendi or Demircilik Mosque) stands in Yozgat's central Köseoğlu neighborhood. An inscription above the prayer hall's entrance dates the mosque to the Islamic year 1219 (1804 CE), commissioned by Cevheri (or Cevahir) Ali Efendi; a second, mirrored inscription reading "1219, God willing" appears beneath the porch eaves. Owing to its proximity to the Blacksmiths' Bazaar, the mosque was originally known as "Ali Efendi, Demircilik Mosque," but later became known as "Kayyımzade Mosque" after members of the Kayyımzade family, including Osman Efendi, taught at the adjoining madrasa; another source records it as "Demirci Ali Efendi Mosque." According to local tradition, Ali Efendi, upon seeing the height of the Başçavuş Mosque, grew dissatisfied that his own earlier foundation, the Cevahir Ali Efendi Mosque, sat below street level; when craftsmen told him raising it would be too difficult, he commissioned this second mosque instead. The prayer hall is rectangular in plan (elongated) with a flat ceiling. A half-cylindrical mihrab sits on the south axis, flanked by an original wooden minbar, with a wooden preacher's pulpit in the southeast corner. To the north, a gallery projects outward. Decoratively, the interior features plaster stained-glass windows and painted ornament on the mihrab and window pediments; around the mihrab, painted columns support a round arch framed with "C" and "S" scroll Baroque plasterwork, and a wooden panel bears an intricate calligraphic composition naming God, the Prophet Muhammad, and the four caliphs. The polygonal-bodied minaret, at the northwest corner, is reached via a door in the entrance porch.