Mescite

Kiosk mescit in the Sultanhanı near Aksaray

Mescit at a gas station near Malatya

As Mescit (also Mescid ) is smaller in Turkey Mosque referred that, in contrast to the Friday Mosque (Cami) , not for the Friday prayers is determined and therefore no pulpit ( minber ) , but a prayer niche ( mihrab ) contains.

The word mescit comes from the Arabic masjid  /مسجدwhich, via the Spanish mezquita, forms the root for the German mosque and the English and French equivalents.

While the word generally refers to the mosque in most of the Islamic world, in Turkish it only stands for smaller houses of prayer in residential areas, but also for prayer rooms in shopping centers, airports, petrol stations or bus stations. Also known are some richly decorated mescits in Seljuk caravanserais , some in kiosk form (köşk mescit) , some built into the building.

literature

• Mescite. In: Klaus Kreiser : Small Turkey Lexicon. Interesting facts about the country and its people (= Beck'sche Reihe 838 Current Country Customers ). Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-33184-X , p. 107.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A. Samb: Mas dj id. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Volume 6: CE Bosworth (ed.): Mahk - Mid. Brill, Leiden 1991, ISBN 90-04-08112-7 , p. 644.