At the 45th meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which took place this month in Riyadh, two sites in Ankara County were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Residents of the Turkish capital were delighted by the news of the inclusion of the ancient city of Gordion and the Aslankhane mosque.
A huge number of politicians, public figures, journalists flock to the two sites after their inclusion in the list. There is especially great interest in the Aslankhane Mosque, located in the historical center of the Turkish capital.
The mosque, whose construction dates back to the 13th century, became the second cultural treasure of Ankara to be included in the list, after the ancient city of Gordion. The Ahi Sherefeddin Mosque or more popularly known as the Aslanhane Mosque, located in the old city of Ankara, in the Ulus district, very close to the popular Ankara Citadel, is among the mosques of the Anatolian Seljuk period with wooden columns. The mosque rests on 24 walnut wooden columns.
The temple is among the oldest still existing mosques in Turkey. It offers a magnificent view of Ankara.
The mosque was built during the reign of the Seljuk ruler Mesud II.
The temple was restored in the period 2010-2013. The building has a square shape and an area of 400 square meters and has one minaret. Its wooden roof is supported by the 24 large wooden columns of walnut wood. It has three gates and 12 windows.
According to legends, there was a lion statue inside the walls of the mosque, which was buried. That is why the mosque’s popular name is “Aslankhane”, which means the lion’s house.
There are legends that the mosque was built by Ahi Husameddin and his brother. There is no definite information about the date of construction of the mosque. Husameddin’s son repaired it afterwards. Then the dimensions of the temple were increased.
One of the most important features of the building is the materials from the Roman and Byzantine periods. The interior of the mosque is very richly decorated and beautifully designed.
Birol İnceköz, Director General of the Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, said that he was very happy about the fact that two sites in Ankara County were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, adding that the process was very hard.
The Mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavash, also commented on his profile on the Ex social network the news about the inclusion of the Aslanhane Mosque and the ancient city of Gordion in the UNESCO list, stressing that the sites will play an important role in the further development of the capital and its surroundings .
A few days before the mosque was included in the UNESCO List and the ancient city of Gordion was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism, Nuri Ersoy, indicated on the Ex social network that the ancient city of Gordion, one of the most valuable treasures of our Ankara, is already a “world heritage”.
The ancient city is located in the area of Polatli city, Ankara district.
The ancient city of Gordion was the capital of the Phrygian civilization and was ruled by the famous king Midas. UNESCO has indicated that Gordion is one of the most valuable historical sites in the Middle East.
An interesting fact is that Yaskhöyuk, where the Ancient City of Gordion is located, borders the village of Kuranharman, inhabited by Bulgarian Turks. Ninety percent of the village’s population are Bulgarian Turks, a large part of whom emigrated from Bulgaria in the 1920s, writes BTA
