The mosque was built in 1486 by Mehmet Paşa, lala to Şehzade Ahmet, son of Bayezid II.
The plan is an inverted T, and the prayer hall itself is square, its high ceiling covered by a dome on an octagonal drum. On the north front seven octagonal columns divide the porch for latecomers into six bays, each under a dome, the columns tied to one another by marble arches worked in red and white. The way in is through the third bay from the left, a bow-arched door set in a deep niche and carrying the mosque's foundation inscription.
Two of its finest pieces are not both in place. The door — one of the best examples of Turkish wood carving — is displayed in the Amasya Museum. The marble minbar, decorated with curving branch and leaf motifs, is likewise a rare example of Turkish marble work, and that one is still in the mosque.
Getting there
- Access
- In the city centre beside the Mustafa Bey bath, close to the car park set aside for tour coaches.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Amasya as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 2.7 °C in January to 23.9 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in May (55 mm) and lightest in August (10 mm). Long-term means for 1961-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
