The Grand Mosque of Constanța ( ro, Marea Moschee din Constanța), originally known as the Carol I Mosque ( ro, Moscheea Carol I), is a mosque in

Constanța Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It is listed as an historic monument by the

Romanian National Institute of Historical Monuments Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

. The mosque is referred to by Constanța's Islamic community as the King's Mosque ( ro, Geamia Regelui, tr, Kral camisi).

History

The Grand Mosque of Constanța was commissioned in 1910 by Romanian King

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

. Construction began on 24 June 1910 with the first cornerstone laid in the presence of

Spiru Haret Spiru C. Haret (; 15 February 1851 – 17 December 1912) was a Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician. He made a fundamental contribution to the ''n''-body problem in celestial mechanics by proving that using a third degree approx ...

, contemporary Romanian Minister of Religious Affairs; Sefa Bey, contemporary Ottoman ambassador in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

; and the Ottoman consul in Constanța. The project was funded by the Romanian Government and entrepreneur Ion Neculcea, and finished construction in 1912. The Grand Mosque of Constanța stands on the site of the former Mahmudia Mosque (''Geamia Mahmudia''), built in 1822 by Hafız Hüsseyin Pasha and named after Ottoman Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...

. The mosque was officially inaugurated by Carol I on 31 May 1913. During the ceremony, Sultan

Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd ( ota, محمد خامس, Meḥmed-i ḫâmis; tr, V. Mehmed or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) reigned as the 35th and penultimate Ottoman Sultan (). He was the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I. He succeeded his half-brother ...

bestowed the

Order of the Medjidie Order of the Medjidie ( ota, نشانِ مجیدی, August 29, 1852 – 1922) is a military and civilian order of the Ottoman Empire. The Order was instituted in 1851 by Sultan Abdulmejid I. History Instituted in 1851, the Order was awarded in fi ...

upon chief architect Victor Ștefănescu. King Carol I also rewarded Ștefănescu with a watch.

Architecture

The mosque was built in Neo-Egyptian and

Neo-Byzantine Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthod ...

styles with elements of

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

architecture. Its designer,

George Constantinescu George "Gogu" Constantinescu (; last name also Constantinesco; 4 October 1881 – 11 December 1965) was a Romanian scientist, engineer and inventor. During his career, he registered over 130 inventions. He is the creator of the ''theory of soni ...

, modeled the mosque after the Konya Mosque in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

(

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

). Victor Ștefănescu served as the chief architect for the project. Contractors used brick and stone materials for the mosque proper, and

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

for the dome and minaret. The mosque was the first structure in Romania to be built using reinforced concrete. The main portal was constructed using stone from Dobrogea, while the door beneath was constructed from black marble inlaid with bronze. The interior columns were constructed from marble from

Câmpulung Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , german: Langenau, Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from Middle Bulgarian)), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'', is a municipality in the Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is situated among t ...

. The minaret was built in

Neo-Moorish Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

style and has a height of 47 metres. The dome has a height of 25 metres and a diameter of 8 metres. File:Moscheea Carol I.jpg File:Carol I mosque Constanta.JPG

References

{{Mosques in Romania Mosques in Romania Buildings and structures in Constanța Mosques completed in 1912 Historic monuments in Constanța County 1912 establishments in Romania Mosque buildings with domes