OTTOMAN PERIOD PIECES IN GUMUSHANE: ON THE SULTAN SULEYMAN HAN MOSQUE AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT

It is accepted that the construction date of the Sultan Süleyman Han Mosque was made during the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. It is a small complex in the town center with the mosque and surrounding structures. Kanuni Sultan Suleyman Han (Cami-i Kebir) Mosque is located at the center of the constructions. Other constructions are formed around the mosque. In different dates around the Camin, tombs, haziras, fountains, libraries, madrasa and foundation buildings were constructed. However, some of these structures have not survived. The buildings that can manage to survive are the mosque, the tomb, the treasure and the fountain. Sultan Suleyman Han Mosque is of great importance for the establishment, development and history of Gumushane Town. As the economic value of the silver mines in the region increased, the town developed and a mosque was built in the town center. On the increase of the population of the town, Gumushane Town became an administrative center by constructing new houses and bazaar around the mosque in accordance with the Turkish city structure. From the 19th century, it became a sanjak center connected to Trabzon Province in the Ottoman provincial organization. Gumushane Town is a deserted city today. From the second half of the 19th century, the town began to slip into the Harshit Valley. Today, the region is a neighborhood of the city of Gumushane and is known as Suleymaniye. The most important structure that can survive in the region is the Sultan Suleyman Han Mosque (Cami-i Kebir). In the present study, the functions of the mosque and its surrounding structures in the Ottoman period will be discussed with reference to the records in the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry and the present situation of these structures will be mentioned. Thus, it will be tried to reveal the value and importance of these structures that have been disappearing today