The Yeni Mosque (, from , "New Mosque") is a historical Ottoman

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Mytilene Mytilene (; ) is the capital city, capital of the Greece, Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of the Aegean. It was fo ...

on the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Location

The mosque is on Ermou street in Epano Skala, the old Turkish neighborhood of

, at the center of the old Turkish market. Epano Skala is located to the north of the modern city center and west of the old harbor.

History and architecture

Lesbos () was under Ottoman rule between 1462-1912 and had a considerable

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

population. The mosque was commissioned by the local governor (''nazır''), Kulaksızzade Mustafa Ağa, ca. 1825. In addition, a

medrese Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

(Muslim monastery) commissioned by Hacı Muhammed was built in the yard of the mosque, while the

mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

's residence was built on the northern side of the yard. The structure is built of stone, with a brick domed roof, combining elements of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and

Ottoman architecture Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the Ottoman Empire over a long period, undergoing some significant changes during its history. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century an ...

. After the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in the early 1920s, the Turkish population left the city and the mosque lost its community. Although the mosque was neglected for the remaining years, 35 volunteers, members of Aeolistas civil initiative group, cleaned the mosque in 2011. Presently, mayor Spiros Galinos promises to restore the mosque by using EU funds.

References

External links

* {{Mosques in Greece Mosques completed in the 1820s 19th-century mosques in Greece Buildings and structures completed in 1825 Buildings and structures in Mytilene Buildings and structures of the Ottoman Empire Former mosques in Greece Ottoman mosques in Greece

Location

History and architecture

See also

References

External links