İsa Bey Bath

Built on the slope of Ayasuluk Hill, the hill on which the Church of St. John stands, the bathhouse dates from the same period as the İsa Bey Mosque; according to its inscription it was completed in 1364, a few years before the mosque (1375). Its marble inscription, now under protection, has a pointed arch. Arranged as a panel of five cartouches, the inscription is written in thuluth script. Partly illegible, the inscription reads, in translation: “The pride of religion, of the world and of the state, the great emir of the state, İsa Bey, son of Aydınoğlu Mehmed Bey (may God make his beginning and his end good), ordered the construction of this blessed bath in his time. The construction of this building, made by Hacı Hoca Ali son of Salih, the ornament of the Hajj and of the Two Holy Sanctuaries (may God make his end good), was completed in the month of Safar of the year 766 AH (may it bring blessings).” The inscription reveals that the building’s architect was Hoca Ali. Built on a square plan, the bath still has five of its domes standing, while the other three have collapsed.