The Historic Mosques and Shrines of Bayat
In the centre and villages of Bayat district, the Çorum Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism’s cultural-tourism inventory lists three historic mosques with inscriptions and nine shrines (türbe) known locally by name. Documented detail on most of these is limited, so what is known is gathered here in a single guide.
Three Historic Mosques
The Emirbey (Old) Mosque in the district centre, according to its inscription, was built in 1846; the Kültür Envanteri (Cultural Inventory) records it as an Ottoman-era building also known as the “Old Mosque” (Eski Camii) or “Bazaar Mosque” (Çarşı Camii). The Çayköy Mosque, in the village of Çayköy, is another inscribed building, dated to the 1800s. The Tepebayat (Eski-Hatipoğlu) Mosque in the district centre is not formally registered as a protected cultural asset, but its inscription gives a construction date of 1218; given how early this date is, it should be read with caution, since the inscription may have been added later or use a different calendar reckoning.
Nine Shrines and Hasan Çelebi
Nine shrines known locally as Hasan Çelebi, Kurtdede, Belören, Tevekli, İleği, Yenişıhlar, Emirşah, Asma Tepesi and Kubbettin have been identified in the district centre and its villages. The best documented of these, the Hasan Çelebi Shrine, stands in Bayat’s Dere neighbourhood. According to Bayat Municipality’s history page, Hasan Çelebi was raised at the side of Hacı Bektaş Veli and then tasked with enlightening the people of Bayat; the inscription on his gravestone records his death in the Hijri year 900 (1494 CE). The same source relates that Hasan Çelebi is said to descend from a clan leader of the Kara Osman lineage, the first to settle in Dere neighbourhood, while Tepebayat neighbourhood is said to have been settled by a Kara-Bayat clan of the Ezgendi lineage that migrated from Khorasan, Iran. Drawing on these accounts and Hasan Çelebi’s date of death, the municipality’s history page suggests Bayat may have been founded sometime between 1071 (the Battle of Manzikert) and 1450 — a range that should be read as an estimate, since no founding document has been found.
The Other Eight Shrines
For the shrines of Kurtdede, Belören, Tevekli, İleği, Yenişıhlar, Emirşah, Asma Tepesi and Kubbettin, official sources give only their names; no publicly available detail was found on whom they are attributed to, which village each stands in, or their dates. This page has therefore been kept limited to what can be verified.
Nearby Places
For the district’s general history and other archaeological and natural sites, see History of Bayat and Akkaya Mound.