The History and Architecture of Alâeddin II Mausoleum in Konya

The Alâeddin II Mausoleum (also known as the Atabeg Ayas Mausoleum) is a work of the Seljuk period in Turkey.

This is a description of a partially completed tomb monument in the courtyard of the Alaeddin Mosque. The monument consists of an octagonal prismatic body that sits on a square base with a funeral niche at the bottom. Currently, there is a glass cover in place of the original cover. The exterior is made of well-cut blue marble, while the interior is covered with smoothly carved Gödene stone.

To reach the funeral niche level, one must descend through a small door facing north, via steps. This section, constructed with rough-hewn stones, has a cross-shaped floor plan with a central square measuring 4.50 meters on each side, with four pointed arches added on each side. The top is covered with a cross vault. There are no windows or air holes to ventilate or illuminate the interior near the entrance. Later, it was used as a cistern, and a round hole was cut on the top to allow water to enter.

The upper floor of the tomb is accessed through a set of six steps on each side of the entrance. The rectangular entrance is set in an arched niche and framed with lintels and jambs, decorated with ornate corner columns. The arched niche gives the facade a sense of movement. The tomb's dimensions are disproportionate, with a length of over 4.40 meters but a height of less than 6.50 meters, indicating that the monument was left unfinished. The condition of the interior niches, along with other decorative elements, supports this observation.

The body of the monument has eight sides on the exterior and twelve sides on the interior. A door is located on one side, windows on two sides, and the remaining nine sides have niches. One of the completed niches, with a polygonal plan, has been arranged as a mihrab, while the other eight niches are semi-cylindrical in shape and have decorative borders around them. These niches rise from the middle of each side, along the wall, and stop midway without being completed at the top.

The building without an inscription has been the subject of research regarding its identity, owner, and why it was left unfinished. It has been referred to as a "cistern," "divan hall," or "mosque." It is known that the eastern side of the Alâeddin Mosque was built by Sultan I. Mesut as Konya's first grand mosque, but it was not completed by his son II. Kılıçarslan. The construction of the middle and western parts was initiated by I. İzzeddin Keykavus and completed by his brother I. Alâeddin Keykubat, as confirmed by inscriptions. One of these inscriptions states that Sultan Keykavus, who was also the atabeg at the time, ordered Mütevelli Ayaz to build a beautiful tomb in addition to this mosque. Since the other tomb belongs to II. Kılıçarslan, it is believed that this tomb is the one ordered by the sultan, and it was left unfinished because he died in Viranşehir and was buried in his hospital in Sivas.