Çapanoğlu Mosque: Yozgat’s 18th-Century Landmark

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

What is Çapanoğlu Mosque?

The Çapanoğlu Mosque, also known as the Büyük Camii (Great Mosque), is the main historic mosque of Yozgat and the symbol of the city. It was built by the Çapanoğlu family, the local dynasty who ruled the Bozok region in the 18th century and turned Yozgat into a town.

The 2002 inventory describes it as one of the rare examples in Anatolia of the Turkish architectural style that emerged under European influence in the late Ottoman period, a simpler version of the monumental mosques seen in great numbers in Istanbul. With its wide dome on a high drum and its slender minaret, visible from every part of the city, it became, in the inventory’s words, the undying symbol of Yozgat and of the Çapanoğlu family.

How do you get to Çapanoğlu Mosque?

The mosque is in the centre of Yozgat, as are the 1908 Clock Tower and the Yozgat Museum, so the three make an easy walk. Yozgat is about 170 km east of Ankara by road; Yozgat YHT station on the Ankara–Sivas high-speed railway has served the city since April 2023. Çamlık National Park is about 5 km to the south.

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When is the best time to visit Çapanoğlu Mosque?

The mosque can be visited all year outside prayer times; avoid Friday midday in particular. Dress modestly, women should cover their hair, and shoes come off at the door. Late afternoon light brings out the two colours of the stonework on the outside walls. In winter Yozgat is cold and snowy, but a visit to the mosque combined with the museum makes a good short city walk in any season.

What is the history of Çapanoğlu Mosque?

The mosque was built in two parts. The first was commissioned by Mustafa Bey, eldest son of Çapanoğlu Ahmet Paşa, in 1193 of the Hijri calendar, AD 1779. The second was added by his brother Süleyman Bey in 1209 AH, AD 1795. The name of the architect is not known.

The two campaigns, 16 years apart, created an inner and an outer mosque. The inventory notes that the inner mosque is built of white cut stone and the outer of light brown and burgundy cut stone, and that although the two parts differ in many features they blend together very well.

A wall surrounds the courtyard on all four sides. Originally the courtyard was entered through monumental arched gates on the east and west; a third gate on the north side was added in 1964. The area to the south, in line with the courtyard gates, was used as a cemetery for the Çapanoğlu family and the town’s notables.

Under the Çapanoğlu family Yozgat gained a group of fine mosques. Cevheri Ali Efendi Mosque was completed in 1788, and Başçavuş Mosque, built in 1800–1801 by the family’s chief sergeant Halit Ağa, copied its plan and decoration.

What is Çapanoğlu Mosque famous for?

• Opening hours change through the year, so check them before you visit.
• Two-colour stonework: white for the inner mosque, light brown and burgundy for the outer.
• Its late Ottoman, European-influenced style, rare in Central Anatolia.
• The Çapanoğlu family, local rulers who built much of old Yozgat.

What can you see at Çapanoğlu Mosque?

The courtyard and gates. Enter through one of the arched monumental gates; the walled courtyard sets the mosque apart from the busy streets around it.

The two mosques in one. Notice where the white inner mosque of 1779 meets the darker outer section of 1795.

The dome. Inside, look up at the 15 m dome raised on its high drum, the feature that makes the mosque visible from all over the city.

The family cemetery. South of the courtyard, the graves of the Çapanoğlu family and Yozgat’s notables.

Nearby. The Clock Tower, built in 1908 by Şakir Usta, and the Yozgat Museum in the Nizamoğlu Mansion of 1871 are both in the centre, as are the wooden-ceilinged Başçavuş and Cevheri Ali Efendi mosques.

Frequently asked questions about Çapanoğlu Mosque

What do the official records say about Çapanoğlu Mosque?

It is one of the rare works produced in Anatolia of the Turkish architectural style that emerged under European influence in the Ottoman period. In its general appearance it is a simple-charactered example of the monumental works of which we see countless examples in Istanbul. Opening hours change through the year, so check them before you visit.

The first part of this mosque, made up of two parts, was built in 1193 AH, 1779 AD, by Mustafa Bey, eldest son of Çapanoğlu Ahmet Paşa; the second part was built in 1209 AH, 1795 AD, by his brother Süleyman Bey. The inner mosque is built of white and the outer mosque of light brown and burgundy cut stone. These two parts, different in many features, blend together very well. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Yozgat Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)

Main photo: User:Matilabey, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.