Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said, “More than 1300 stones from both the garden and the building of the Şehzade Korkut Mosque were removed, catalogued and numbered. We have restored a very rare work that has attracted great interest from foreign tourists.”
Minister Ersoy inspected the Şehzade Korkut (Broken Minaret) Mosque, one of the most important historical buildings of Antalya, which was restored by the General Directorate of Foundations.
Ersoy made a press statement after the Friday prayer at the mosque and gave information about the history of the work, the restoration process and the work done.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Ersoy stated that restorations and additional constructions were carried out on the mosque six times in different periods during long processes, and that this is why it went through a very difficult restoration process in the past.
Stating that the mosque contains different ruins in different layers, Ersoy said:
“More than 1300 stones, both in the garden and in the building, were removed, catalogued and numbered. Then, after long studies and applications by scientists, each stone was re-installed in its proper place and the restoration of the mosque was completed after a difficult process.”
Ersoy stated that the mosque was built as a church in the 6th and 7th centuries AD and that it was later converted into a mosque by Şehzade Korkut between 1481 and 1530.
Ersoy, who said that he encountered a fire disaster in 1896, said, “There was a process that was neglected here for 126 years. But in 2017, with the work initiated by our General Directorate of Foundations and together with the Antalya Governorship, the restoration work of this place was started and completed. Now it is both open for worship and for visits. We have restored a very rare work that also attracts the attention of foreign tourists.”
