Göğceli Mosque: Samsun’s 800-Year-Old Wooden Mosque

On this page

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

What is Göğceli Mosque?

Göğceli Mosque (Göğceli Camii) is a small wooden mosque standing in a cemetery in Çarşamba, on the Yeşilırmak plain east of Samsun. Its walls are made of horizontal timber planks stacked and locked together at the corners, and the 2002 inventory notes that no nails were used in its construction. It has stood for about 800 years.

The inventory calls it one of the finest examples of Anatolian wooden architecture. It is a modest building from the outside, a timber box under a tiled roof, but it is a rare survivor: medieval wooden buildings seldom last in the damp Black Sea climate.

How do you get to Göğceli Mosque?

Çarşamba lies east of Samsun on the coast road, beyond Samsun Çarşamba Airport. The mosque is in the Göğceli Cemetery in the Hasbahçe quarter of the town. Minibuses run from Samsun to Çarşamba; from the town centre take a taxi or ask locally for Göğceli Camii.

It is an easy detour if you are flying in or out of Samsun, since the airport is on the way. Allow half a day from Samsun if you combine it with the Hacıosman Forest on the same road.

Book a Göğceli Mosque tour

−5% Istambul readers save 5% on every tour below — applied at checkout.

See all tours

Partner listings via GetYourGuide · free cancellation on most

When is the best time to visit Göğceli Mosque?

Any season works. Spring and early summer are greenest on the Çarşamba plain, and the hazelnut orchards around the town are in full leaf; winter is wet but the mosque is just as interesting, and you are likely to have it to yourself. As a working mosque in a cemetery, it is best visited outside prayer times; dress modestly and remove your shoes if you go inside.

What is the history of Göğceli Mosque?

The inventory states that its exact date of construction is not known. Research on samples of its wood carried out in 1990 dated it to 1206, during the second reign of the Seljuk sultan Kaykhusraw I (1205–1211). Its portico was restored in 1335, and the painted decoration inside belongs to the early and classical Ottoman periods.

The mosque underwent an extensive restoration in 2007. It has remained in use as a place of worship in the cemetery around it.

Its survival is the remarkable part. The Black Sea coast is one of the wettest parts of Türkiye, and the forests behind the Çarşamba plain supplied timber for houses, granaries and mosques for centuries; most of those buildings have been lost to damp, rot, fire and rebuilding. Göğceli lasted because the community kept repairing it rather than replacing it, which is also why its fabric mixes the 13th-century structure with 14th-century and Ottoman work.

What is Göğceli Mosque famous for?

• Building without nails. The wall planks are stacked and interlocked with double-notch joints. Forged iron nails appear only where column capitals meet the beams and in later rafter additions towards the women’s section.
• Age. At about 800 years old, it is among the oldest timber mosques in Türkiye.
• Painted interior. Plant motifs painted with vegetable pigments on the wood.

What can you see at Göğceli Mosque?

The walls. Look at the corners, where the planks cross and lock into each other. This is the technique that has held the building together for centuries.

The roof. A three-shouldered roof, slightly curved on the north side, carried on the wooden walls and struts.

The women’s section. A raised gallery carried on six wooden columns.

The painted decoration. Faded plant designs in vegetable paint, dating from the early and classical Ottoman periods.

The cemetery. Old gravestones stand in the trees around the mosque.

Nearby on the Çarşamba plain

Hacıosman Forest Nature Reserve. At the 8th km of the Samsun–Çarşamba road, in Çınarlı village, this is what the inventory calls a unique alluvial forest ecosystem with a very limited range in Europe and in danger of disappearing fast. Ash, oak, Caucasian wing-nut, elm, Oriental hornbeam and field maple are the main trees, and the abundant food supports moles, tortoises and grey herons. To protect it, 86 hectares were set aside as a nature reserve in 1987.

The delta lakes. The inventory explains that the Çarşamba lakes formed when hollows in the plain filled with water, and that further east, near Terme, the Simenit Lakes formed where a stream spreads over very flat ground before reaching the sea. They are ringed with reeds and marsh, and people fish them with rod and line.

The beaches. The coast of Tekkeköy, Çarşamba and Terme is lined with wide sandy natural beaches.

Frequently asked questions about Göğceli Mosque

What do the official records say about Göğceli Mosque?

The mosque is in Çarşamba district. The exact date of construction of the mosque, in which no nails at all were used, is not known. Having stood firm for about 800 years, the building displays one of the most beautiful examples of Anatolian wooden architecture. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Samsun Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)

Main photo: Cobija, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.