The Mosque of Alexandroupolis ( el, Τζαμί Αλεξανδρούπολης, tr, Dedeağaç Camii) is an
Ottoman-era mosque in the town of
Alexandroupolis,
Western Thrace
Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...
, in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
. Like most mosques in Thrace, it is open for worship and serves the small Muslim community of the town. The entrance to the mosque is in the north side of Kassandras Street.
Description
History
The mosque has stood for longer than Alexandroupolis has been a town, its construction dated to before 1895.
According to a plaque above its door, the mosque was opened in 1906.
On its grounds originally stood a
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
(Islamic school), but it now now just the mosque stands surrounded by other buildings.
It has been destroyed by arson twice during the 20th century, most recently in 1993, and each time its rebuilding was financed by the Greek government.
The first was during the Bulgarian occupation of the town, and the second in 1993, by person or persons unknown.
The mosque, which is built next to a Muslim minority primary school, is still used regularly by the local Muslim community. The mosque has also been subjected to attacks by right wing nationalists, the most recent of which occurred in 2014.
Architecture
The mosque of Alexandroupolis is a square room with praying hall. It has a marble structure, with elaborate decoration and a multitude of engraved inscriptions, which are considered a remarkable example of the sculptural marble art for its time. On the west side of the Muslim mosque stands the tomb of an Ottoman general, Fayek Hussein Pasha, which is also made of marble.
The minaret is on the western side of the mosque.
See also
*
Islam in Greece
Islam in Greece is represented by two distinct communities; Muslims that have lived in Greece since the times of the Ottoman Empire (primarily in East Macedonia and Thrace) and Muslim immigrants that began arriving in the last quarter of the ...
*
List of former mosques in Greece
*
List of mosques in Greece The construction of mosques in Greece has been documented since the period of the Greek Ottoman Empire. Most of the mosques listed were built in the late 14th to early 20th centuries, when parts of modern Greece were part of the Ottoman Empire.
L ...
*
Ottoman Greece
References
{{Authority control
19th-century architecture in Greece
19th-century mosques
Ottoman Thrace
Ottoman mosques in Greece
Buildings and structures in Evros (regional unit)
Alexandroupolis