A mosque in Türkiye's Kocaeli now boasts a stunning display of marquetry, a sinking-into-oblivion tradition that stretches back to ancient Egypt.
The idea came out when a marquetry artist with 35 years of experience, Adil Fikret Turgaç, proposed the idea of adorning the bare columns of the district's central mosque. Upon the mosque management's approval, Turgaç and his team of craftspeople crafted the designs using only wooden coverings, without any additives or paint. The process was entirely handmade with no machine assistance.
This intricate art form, dating back to ancient Egypt and utilized in Seljuk and Ottoman architecture, has been applied to mosque columns for the first time in history.
The stunning designs of Körfez Ilimtepe Central Mosque feature both Islamic motifs and decagram patterns that were frequently employed in the designs of the Ottoman Empire. Turgaç explained that the patterns were created by meticulously cutting each fillet one by one to produce different designs when viewed from afar and up close. Despite each column originally intended to have Seljuk designs, the different handmade designs created unique appearances on each one.
