We visited Mahmut Bey mosque on the way from Safranbolu to Kizilirmak delta (a 2019 nomination that was withdrawn by Turkey after negative ICOMOS evaluation). It needed a short detour to the rural area of Kasaba where the mosque is located. It was around 6pm and the mosque was already closed but the guardian spotted us on the way and returned to open it just for us. It was very fortunate as from the outside the mosque is not special. It is its iterior that is particularly beautiful and interesting.

The mosque was built in XIVth century. No cement was used (except for mihrab) and the roof was built without any metal. So the inside is entirely wooden, with beautiful paintings. I am not aware how many original elements survived but overall it looked very old. Turkey has not publicly revealed any plans to inscribe the mosque* but… UNESCO plaque is already there! Not WHS plaque and they admit it is on tentative list only, but still I find it misleading.

*written in 2019. In 2023 the mosque was inscribed as a component of serial nomination 'Wooden Hypostyle Mosques of Medieval Anatolia'.