Mahmud Bey Cami

Top choice in Central Anatolia

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Amid rolling hills and fertile fields, the hamlet of Kasaba, 17km northwest of Kastamonu, is a pretty but unlikely place to find one of Turkey's finest surviving wooden mosques. Dating to 1366, the interior of Mahmud Bey Cami is a feast of intricate craftwork with painted wooden columns, a wooden gallery and finely painted ceiling rafters. You can climb some rough ladders to the gallery's third storey for closer views of the ornate beam-ends and interlocking motifs topping the pillars.

A return taxi from Kastamonu, with waiting time, costs around ₺80.

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