Kesik Minare (Broken Minaret)

The Kesik Minare (literally "Broken Minaret") is one of the most historically layered monuments in Kaleiçi. The ruin is not much to look at from outside — a fire-damaged hulk of stonework in an overgrown yard — but the accumulation of architectural history it contains is remarkable. Roman column drums are visible in the walls; Byzantine stone carvings mix with Seljuk tilework; Ottoman additions sit above the whole.

The site is usually accessible during daylight hours. It requires a short detour from the main tourist lanes of Kaleiçi but is worth it for anyone interested in the palimpsest of religions and rulers that characterises this coast.

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A story
The Kesik Minare has been repurposed more times than almost any building in Turkey: it was built as a Roman temple, converted to a Byzantine church, converted to a mosque by the Seljuks (when the minaret was added), converted back to a church by the Crusaders, then back to a mosque by the Ottomans. A fire in the 19th century destroyed the wooden roof and the top of the minaret, leaving the truncated tower that gives it its current name.

Other places in Kaleiçi