Gündüzler Mahallesi Ömer Avni Yel Camii

Within the Gunduzler neighbourhood of Sarikavak in Mersin province on Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast, the Omer Avni Yel Camii honours a local benefactor whose family endowed the mosque to serve the surrounding community of farmers, fishermen and small town residents. Mersin itself stretches along the Cilician coast where the Taurus Mountains descend toward the sea, a region whose ancient cities of Tarsus, Anazarbus and Mamuriye kalesi bear witness to layered Roman, Byzantine, Armenian and Turkish heritage. The Ottoman period brought the construction of mosques, hans and schools across the towns of Cilicia, continued under the Turkish Republic with the expansion of village mosques and prayer halls throughout the twentieth century. The Gunduzler Mahallesi is a residential quarter of Sarikavak surrounded by citrus orchards and greenhouses producing the early vegetables for which the Mersin plain is famous. The mosque follows the Anatolian provincial style with a whitewashed facade, a central dome flanked by small subsidiary domes, a tall slender minaret whose balcony carries the muezzin's call across the surrounding fields and a forecourt paved with limestone slabs. The interior prayer hall is floored in rich red carpet woven in Konya and Sivas, the mihrab is framed by carved stone with Qur'anic verses and the mimbar is of walnut wood typical of central Anatolia. Daily prayers draw residents of the neighbourhood including farmers, teachers and small shopkeepers, while Jumu'ah fills the hall with khutbah in Turkish. Ramadan nights host iftars of lentil soup, pide and baklava, tarawih prayers led by the imam and vigils on laylat al Qadr. Eid mornings see children receiving sweets after prayer. Visitors to Mersin can pair a stop with the ancient ruins of Tarsus, the medieval castle of Kizkalesi rising from the sea, and the orange groves of the Cilician coast. Local Mersin tradition welcomes guests with glasses of strong cay in delicate tulip shaped cups and generous portions of tandir kebab from the neighbouring village oven, a ritual that binds the spiritual life of the mosque to the warm social rhythm of Mediterranean Turkish rural life. Evening Qur'an circles after Yatsi prayers draw young men and women separately, both learning the sacred text under the gentle guidance of the imam. The orchards surrounding Sarikavak fill the springtime evenings with orange blossom fragrance that lingers in the courtyard.