Yüreğir/Adana, Adana (FUA), Türkiye
City population: 1769000
Duration: pre-1990 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Unknown
Last updated: May 2025

The Köprüköy Mosque in Adana, commonly named "green mosque", is one of a kind in Türkiye (Ref. 2,5). Its building and minaret are almost entirely covered by poison ivy and appear in vivid green colour from afar. Founded in 1929, it had to be remodelled in the early 60s as it couldn't sufficiently accommodate worshippers in the growing district. The mosque was then entirely built and rebuilt by the community, with its maintenance overseen by the mosque's protection association (Ref. 4). In the 70s, the ivy was planted and has since helped to protect the building from environmental stressors and keep visitors inside the garden and mosque cool during the summer heat (Ref. 4,5,6) Furthermore, the mosque’s well-maintained garden, home to around 280 species, is adored by local, national, and international visitors and tourists, as well as the media (Ref. 1,3,7). Frequent maintenance and rotation of the garden's flowers keep its appearance and function intact, one of which is the profound impact on visitors’ well-being, with many praising the unique atmosphere of the mosque that evokes peace, comfort, and spirituality (Ref. 1,3,4). During COVID-19, the mosque could only host worshippers during praying hours, after which it quickly continued to bring people back together to garden, rest and socialize throughout the day (Ref. 1).

View from the yard of the mosque
View from the yard of the mosque
https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/kultur-sanat/yesil-cami-baharda-acan-cicekleri-ve-sarmasiklariyla-botanik-bahcesini-andiriyor/2234428#

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Institutional green space
  • Nature on buildings (external)
  • Green walls or facades

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Regulation of built environment
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Improving mental health
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social cohesion
  • Social interaction
  • Sense of community and community engagement
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Tourism support

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Climate-Related Hazards
  • Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
  • Land use and Socio-economic change
  • Rapid urbanization

Key priorities

Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration), Social Justice and community

Focus

Maintenance and management of urban nature, Maintenance or upgrade of exisiting green spaces (e.g. parks)

Project objectives

Goal 1: Protect worshippers from the heat during the summer. (Ref. 5,6) Goal 2: Protect the mosque from deterioration through careful maintenance and green walls/roofs covered by poison ivy, which does not damage the structure of the mosque. (Ref. 5) Goal 3: Create a unique atmosphere and appearance that is conducted by the green elements which positively impacts mental health and tourism. (Ref. 3,4) Goal 4: Provide a space to socialize and visit beyond prayer times. (Ref. 1,4,6) Goal 5: Increase social cohesion and community engangement through the mosque's maintenance association. (Ref. 3) Goal 6: Plant diverse species to increase biodiversity. (Ref. 6)

Implementation activities

1) Remodellig in 1965 to serve a growing community with a more robust structure. (Ref. 4) 2) Appointment of a permanent Imam and staff, which established the institution as a whole. (Ref. 4) 3) In the 70's, the community planted the Poison Ivy, which quickly covered the mosque and minaret (Ref. 4). However, that initial species harmed the construction and another species was introduced from the Taurus Mountains in Turkey. (Ref. 5) 4) For over 40 years, the garden has been maintained by the community/protection and maintenance association of the mosque, which is also responsible for planting the flowers. (Ref. 5) 5) The mosque and garden welcome anyone who would like to visit. (Ref. 1,3,4,7)

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Implement green walls or roofs to lower indoor temperature and provide insulation

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Restore valued species
  • Public engagement

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups
  • Young people and children
  • Other

Governance

Management set-up

  • Led by non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Citizens or community group

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
  • Co-management/Joint management

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

" [...] a member of the mosque community said that they built the Köprüköy Mosque by demolishing the old building (Mosque), which was a small place, years ago and collaborating with the neighbourhood. Our elders were the pioneers, and we, the young people, were behind them." (Ref. 4) "[...] rebuilt in 1965, was decorated with ivy and flowers by the Köprüköy Mosque Protection and Maintenance Association, which was founded by the mosque community years ago. (Ref. 3) "Köprüköy Mosque, [...] was decorated with ivy and flowers by the mosque community over the years." (Ref. 7)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? No
... a national policy or strategy? No
... a local policy or strategy? No

Type of enablers

NGOs/Community groups driving the implementation

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

  • Unknown

Type of funding

  • Donations
  • Other

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Achieved lowered local temperature
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Achieved increased green space area
  • Increased number of species present
  • Achieved increased number of species present

Economic impacts

  • More sustainable tourism
  • Achieved more sustainable tourism
  • Generation of income from NBS
  • Achieved generation of income from NBS

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Achieved improved social cohesion
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Achieved increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Improved mental health
  • Achieved improved mental health
  • Enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
  • Achieved enhanced cognitive restoration, relaxation and stress relief
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
  • Achieved protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure
  • Preserved spiritual and religious values
  • Achieved preserved spiritual and religious values

Type of reported impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No

Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs

Unknown

References

1.
Bozkurt, E. (2021). 'Yeşil cami' baharda açan çiçekleri ve sarmaşıklarıyla botanik bahçesini andırıyor. Anadolu Agency, Accessed on August 29, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Albrifkany, I. M., Hashim. L., Aslantaş, P., Şevket, A. (2021). Adaptive Reuse of Osman Shah Mosque in Trikala through the Landscape Design . PLANNING, DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, p. 344-345 Accessed on August 28, 2024, [Source link];
3.
İhlas Haber Ajansı (2019). 'Yeşil Cami' Ramazan'a hazır. mermular, Accessed on August 29, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Özbay. Y. (2023). Adana'da sarmaşıklarıyla ünlü cami: Köprüköy Camii . Ilkha, Accessed on August 29, 2024, [Source link];
5.
World Bulletin (2014). Green Mosque in south-eastern Turkey. Islam.ru, Accessed on August 29, 2024, [Source link];
6.
IHA News (2022). Adana’s botanical garden: “Green mosque”. Accessed on August 29, 2024, [Source link];
7.
Sözcü (2018). Adana'da sarmaşıklarla kaplı Yeşil Cami. Accessed on August 29, 2024, [Source link];
8.
Ihlas Haber Ajansi (2018). Yeşil Cami yıkım tehlikesiyle karşı karşıya . Accessed on August 29, 2024, [Source link];
View of the yard
View of the yard
https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/kultur-sanat/yesil-cami-baharda-acan-cicekleri-ve-sarmasiklariyla-botanik-bahcesini-andiriyor/2234428#
Aearial View of the Neighborhood
Aearial View of the Neighborhood
https://iha.news/adanas-botanical-garden-green-mosque/
naturescapes bannerInformation about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.