1541 Ulu Cami, the 1882 Great Clock Tower (Büyük Saat) and Kazancılar Bazaar

Five minutes' walk west of Taşköprü along Kızılay Caddesi and Ali Münif Yeğenağa Caddesi lies the historic medieval and Ottoman heart of Adana. Between the 1350s and 1608, the city was ruled by the Turkmen Ramazanoğlu Principality (Beylik), initially as vassals of the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo and later as loyal governors of the Ottoman Empire, creating a unique architectural style that marries Syrian-Egyptian Mamluk two-tone striped masonry (ablaq) with 16th-century Ottoman Iznik tiles.

1. The Ramazanoğlu Ulu Cami Complex (1513 to 1541) & 1495 Ramazanoğlu Konağı

Begun in 1513 by Ramazanoğlu Halil Bey and completed in 1541 by his son Piri Mehmed Pasha, Adana Ulu Cami (The Grand Mosque) is one of the finest architectural monuments in southern Turkey:

• Mamluk Exterior, Ottoman Interior: enter through the monumental western stone portal built from alternating horizontal stripes of black basalt and creamy-white limestone beneath an octagonal Mamluk-style minaret. Once you cross the marble-paved courtyard (shaded by citrus trees) into the prayer hall, the style transforms completely into classical Ottoman Istanbul: the entire southern wall around the black-marble mihrab is covered in sweeping 16th-century coral, turquoise and cobalt Iznik tiles.
• Ramazanoğlu Konağı (1495, Immediately South-East of the Mosque): built by Halil Bey in 1495 using cut stone on the ground floor and brick on the upper harem floor, this is one of the oldest surviving residential palace mansions in all of Turkey.
• 1507 Yağ Camii ("The Oil Mosque"): five minutes west up the bazaar street, originally the medieval Crusader Church of St James converted into a mosque in 1501 inside the former butter-and-oil market.

2. The Great Clock Tower (Büyük Saat, 1882) and Historical Kazancılar Çarşısı

One hundred metres north of Ulu Cami rises the 32-metre-tall brick prism of Büyük Saat (The Great Clock Tower), begun in 1881 by Governor Ziya Pasha and completed in 1882 by Abidin Pasha, making it the tallest historical Ottoman clock tower in Turkey. Step directly behind the Clock Tower into the covered vaults of Tarihi Kazancılar Çarşısı (The Boiler-Makers' & Coppersmiths' Bazaar): watch masters tinning giant copper cauldrons and copper kebab skewers, stop at famous Kazım Büfe for an ice-cold frothy glass of fresh banana milk (muzlu süt) and a pressed hot-dog-and-cheese tost, and browse traditional spice and şalgam barrels.