BALAT - İLYAS BEY KÜLLÎYESİNÎN MEDRESE BİNASI ÜZERİNE BAZI DEĞERLENDİRMELER

Öz

İlyas Bey Complex in Balat, the second capital after Peçin, being composed of a mosque, a hamam (bath), and a medrese (theological school) is an important monument of Menteşe Principality regained its independence following the Ankara War in 1402. However, the construction program was interrupted due to the influence of the Ottoman authority, which was increasingly felt again in the region.

The medrese, only the remains of the walls exist at present, is located to the north of Ilyas Bey Mosque, the inscription panel of which contains a remarkable word, imaret. The medrese is thought to be built by the Ottomans in the first quarter of the 15th Century. It possesses a disordered plan in the shape of deformed “U”. In this plan, the spaces around the open courtyard (with a fountain - şadırvan) shows neither a uniform layout, nor an architectural harmony.

The eyvan, surmounted with a dome in the north, and the two larger spaces in the center of the east and west wings exhibit some constructional similarities to the mosque, which was built first. Although, the building gained a character which is identical to a medrese by the attachments of the cells to those larger spaces, one can understand that the building, in fact, converted from a zaviye, when the word imaret in the inscription of the mosque and its architectural features are considered. A well-ordered row composed of cells found during the excavations in 1994, probably belongs to a medrese, but, to the one with a relatively larger program planned later but not completed. By a detailed examination of the architectural features of the medrese, in this study, the original state of the medrese was tried to be revealed in the light of historical data as well as the architectural trends of the period.