Multi-Domed Mosques in the Crimean Khanate

Abstract

This paper is aimed to analyse architectural features of a group of mosques from the age of the Crimean Khanate, the multi-domed and multi-section mosques. In the Crimea, there are two mosques of the kind: Sultan Selim Mosque in Feodosia (Kefe) and Dzhuma Dzhami (Cuma Camii) in Yevpatoria (Gozlev). Although the mosque in Feodosia does not survive to these days, there are its descriptions and drawings not always coinciding with each other. The main problem is that different authors mention a different number of its domes. The analysis of all available written and graphic sources allows the conclusion that the central part of the mosque was covered with a big dome and the aisles with two small ones. On the south side of it there was a portico covered with five domes. Sultan Selim Mosque had two minarets. Its ground plan is absolutely analogous to those of Sultan Camii and some other mosques in Manisa. This circumstance disproves the interpretation suggested by some researchers that the Crimean mosque was constructed by Sinan. Dzhuma Dzhami (Cuma Camii) mosque in Yevpatoria escapes destruction, so today it is completely restored. The building was erected by the architect Khoja Mimar Sinan. Its composition features the increasing volumes principle. The central hall is covered with a big dome on a high drum and the aisles with three small domes. Additionally, the mosque has a portico with five domes. There are two minarets towering on both sides of it. Its ground plan is very close to Fatih Camii in Istanbul and Selim II Mosque in Konya. Both multi-domed mosques in the Crimea are typical Ottoman buildings.