Battalgazi (Eski Malatya): Old Melitene and Its Seljuk Mosque

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1. What is Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?
2. How do you get to Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?
3. When is the best time to visit Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?
4. What is the history of Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?
5. What is Battalgazi (Eski Malatya) famous for?
6. What can you see at Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?
7. Frequently asked questions about Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)
8. What do the official records say about Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?

What is Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?

Battalgazi, officially Eski Malatya (“Old Malatya”), is the town that was the city of Malatya for close to two thousand years. As Melitene it was a Roman legionary base and a Byzantine bishopric, and in the Middle Ages it was one of the great cities of the upper Euphrates. In 1838 its people moved to the summer quarter of Aspuzu, which became modern Malatya, and the old town was left as a small settlement inside its ruined walls.

The town is named after Battal Gazi, a warrior of the 8th-century Arab–Byzantine wars who became the hero of a Turkish epic. Today it gives its name to one of Malatya’s two central districts.

Before 2023 Battalgazi had two major monuments in good order: the Seljuk Great Mosque (Ulu Cami), a building of national importance, and the Silahtar Mustafa Pasha Caravanserai. Both were damaged in the earthquake of 6 February 2023. Check their status locally before you go; you can still see the town, the walls and the outsides of the buildings.

How do you get to Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?

Battalgazi is about 10 km north-east of Malatya city centre, reached by city bus or minibus or a short taxi ride. Arslantepe Mound is close by, and the two make an easy half-day trip. Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX), about 26 km west of the city, has daily flights from Istanbul and Ankara.

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When is the best time to visit Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?

Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons. Summer afternoons are very hot; go in the morning and combine the town with Arslantepe. Mosques should not be visited during prayer times, particularly Friday noon prayers.

What is the history of Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?

Melitene grew up beside the older settlement at Arslantepe. Under Rome it guarded the Euphrates crossing on the eastern frontier. The inventory records that the city walls were begun in the time of the Roman emperor Titus and took their final form under the Byzantine emperor Justinian (527–565). They enclosed a large pentagonal area; today they are in very poor condition.

Through the early Middle Ages the city changed hands again and again between Byzantium and the Arab caliphate, the setting of the wars in which Battal Gazi became a legend. Turkish dynasties held it from the late 11th century, and under the Anatolian Seljuks it was a major city. The Great Mosque was built in 1224, in the reign of Alaeddin Keykubad I. The Ottomans took the city in the early 16th century.

In 1637 Mustafa Pasha, a Bosnian who was sword-bearer (silahtar) to Sultan Murad IV, built a large caravanserai on the town’s trade route. Two centuries later, in 1838, the population moved to Aspuzu, and Malatya began again on its present site.

On 6 February 2023 the earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaraş caused heavy damage across Malatya province, including to the Great Mosque and the caravanserai, which the provincial culture directorate lists as closed for repairs.

What is Battalgazi (Eski Malatya) famous for?

• The Great Mosque, described by the inventory as the only example in Anatolia of the iwan-plan mosque and an extension of the mosque-building technique of the Great Seljuks in Iran.
• The caravanserai, a 17th-century Ottoman han measuring 68 × 76 m.
• Roman and Byzantine walls, the remains of ancient Melitene.
• Battal Gazi, the warrior hero who gave the town its name.

What can you see at Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?

The Great Mosque (Ulu Cami). Built in 1224 under Alaeddin Keykubad I; the inventory names the architect as Mansur bin Yakup. Its heart is the domed space in front of the mihrab, the large iwan opening from it, and an inner courtyard. The front of the iwan is decorated with aubergine-purple tiles and brickwork in geometric patterns. There are two monumental portals, one on the west and one on the east, and the body of the brick minaret still stands. The building inscription is kept in the city museum. The mosque was badly damaged in February 2023; check whether it has reopened.

Silahtar Mustafa Pasha Caravanserai. Built in 1637 in the Alacakapı quarter, 68 × 76 m, on the Silk Road route. It was restored between 2007 and 2010, damaged in the 2023 earthquake and closed for repairs, according to the directorate.

Kanlı Kümbet. A tomb probably of the 12th–13th century from the Seljuk period. It has a crypt: the lower level was used for the burial and the upper for visitors.

The walls. Stretches of the Roman and Byzantine walls still run around the old town; they are ruined, so view them from outside.

Poyraz Mansion. In the Meydanbaşı quarter, a two-storey house of mud brick, stone and timber, probably built around 1890, restored by the Battalgazi municipality as what it calls Türkiye’s first neighbourhood life museum.

Frequently asked questions about Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)

What do the official records say about Battalgazi (Eski Malatya)?

The building in the east of the town was built in 1224, in the time of the Seljuk ruler Alaaddin Keykubat I, and its architect is Mansur bin Yakup. The inscription of the mosque, a monumental example in Anatolia of the Great Seljuk mosques of Iran, is today in the city museum. The mosque, in the Battalgazi district, is the only example in Anatolia of the iwan mosque plans. In its plan and in the materials used to build it, it is an extension of the mosque-building technique of the Great Seljuks in Iran.

The dome in front of the mihrab, the iwan connected to it and the inner courtyard form the core of the building. The front face of the iwan is decorated with aubergine-purple tiles and brick decoration in geometric motifs. The mosque has two monumental portals opening outwards, one in the west and the other in the east. The body of the minaret, built entirely of brick, is still standing. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Malatya Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)