**4. Findings and Discussion**

Mosques are the spatial equivalent of Muslims' culture, belief, and worship. As a structure, they have undergone a considerable change throughout history in terms of material, space organization, plan elements, and understanding. As Oral (1993) points out, the mosque, which has existed as a "multifunctional building" for a long time in history, has emerged as an "independent element" with the Republican period. The commercial function added to this independent element is controversial in terms of planning, architecture, and legal and social aspects. The literature review we carried out within the scope of the study revealed that the use of mosques with different functions has existed since the first mosques, and that it is also in close relationship with commercial activities; however, this relationship began to be seen within the mosque during the Ottoman period.

Among the mosques with a commercial function in our sample, 10 are located in Kepez District, 4 in Muratpa¸sa District, and 1 in Aksu District. Considering the general distribution of mosques, we observe that they are concentrated in the west of Antalya. Although there is no concrete reason for the concentration of site selection in this region, it could have occurred as a response to the demands made to the administration due to the socio-economic structure of the Kepez district.

A thorough analysis could not be performed on the configuration of mosques due to several reasons, such as there being no available architectural projects in the archives of the relevant municipality. The mosques whose projects we managed to find from the Muratpa¸sa, Kepez and Aksu municipalities and mufti offices were the Akdeniz Sanayi, Güzeloba, and Imam Azam mosques. The existing drawings indicated that the commercial function of the Akdeniz Sanayi Mosque was included in the project and solutions suitable for trade were devised. However, non-functional changes were made in this mosque as a result of the mosque staff's desire to be close to the mosque, by adding a residence later. Some problems were encountered when the mosque plans, which were made without considering all the services to be provided, came to the practice stage, and then attempts were made to solve these problems. The current uses, which were not in the project, were mostly living quarters where the imam resides, the Quran school buildings, and the conversion of a part of the mosque into a commercial unit in order to derive income from rents. Since the commercial section was located on the ground floor and the entrance–exit arrangements were not fully resolved, it caused accessibility problems. Subsequent changes or additions to the structure caused inconsistency in terms of functionality, configuration, and aesthetics.

In the functionality analysis conducted to define diversity in the focus group interviews, it was determined that the problems caused by the functions added to the mosque depended on different variables (Figure 19). The trading function created a problem primarily because users thought that the spirituality dimension was negatively affected. The presence of such a unit in a holy place where people come to worship affects some of the congregation and causes them to even change the mosque they regularly attend. The mass that continues to come to the mosque is affected by the type of trade function, its size, location, and the income it earns.

Related to the type of trade function, the users of the mosque wanted units, such as tea houses, to serve the congregation, but they were uncomfortable with the conversion of units that work independently of the mosque and which are rented out only for the purpose of generating income. Some of the users stated that there should be shops where materials, such as religious books and pilgrimage materials should be sold, but they did not find it appropriate to include businesses incompatible with religious content. There

are those who think that small-scale businesses, such as grocery stores, greengrocers, and pharmacies may exist, but it would be wrong to turn them into branded supermarkets.

**Figure 19.** Variables for functions added to the mosques.

It was determined that the function of the commercial unit, which is integrated into the mosques, created problems for the users in terms of compatibility with the religious structure, perceptibility, ratio and proportion, and visuality. Besides those who think that it is morally unacceptable for the size of the trade function to override the perception of the mosque, there are some who think that if the mosque did not have a minaret and a dome, it would be completely detached from the definition of a mosque. Users generally argue that if a trade function is to be added, it should be constructed in a proportional size that does not exceed the mosque, and that it should not be forgotten that the main building is a mosque. In addition, it is a common problem expressed by both the mosque users and the people of the region that the signs, posters, and banners of businesses, as well as door and window joinery that are not suitable for the structure, create an aesthetically defective image in the mosque.

The functionality of the building is affected due to the fact that the commercial units are at different elevations and facades than the congregation entrances. First of all, taking the mosque to the upper floor and placing the commercial units on the lower floor creates accessibility problems for elderly and disabled people to go upstairs. If this problem was not considered during the project phase, other solutions were sought by mosque associations, municipal aid, the mufti office, or the community as much as possible (Figure 20). It was observed that the commercial functions are on the same front with the entrance of the congregation, and that the service units used by the commercial units disturb the mosque community. These problems are generally experienced with trucks approaching warehouse entrances, stacked parcels blocking the way, and this creates problems for the mosque community, because there are places where those who do not use the mosque have a common entrance and exit door.

**Figure 20.** (**a**) Meltem Mosque, escalator solution; (**b**) Green Mosque, elevator solution; (**c**) Melikgazi Mosque, ramp solution.

In summary, in terms of functionality, the commercial units deemed necessary by the mosque management for its self-management were received negatively by the community depending on the variables involved; these variables affect the reaction of the public in line with the type, size, location, and earnings of the commercial unit. Social functions other than the commercial function added to the structure are generally found to be positive; the negative aspects of the functions vary with the duration of use, user base, and type of use.
