Esmahan Sultan Mosque ( ro, Moscheea Esmahan Sultan) is the oldest

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

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

. Located in

Mangalia Mangalia (, tr, Mankalya), ancient Callatis ( el, Κάλλατις/Καλλατίς; other historical names: Pangalia, Panglicara, Tomisovara), is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanța County, Northern ...

Constanța County Constanța () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Dobruja region. Its capital city is also named Constanța. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 684,082 and the population density was 96/km2. The degr ...

, it serves a community of 800 Muslim families, most of them of Turkish and

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

ethnicity.

History

In 1452, when Dobrogea got under the Ottoman domination, and the Turkish, Tatar, Bulgarian, Circassian, Gaguaz, Greek and Jewish peoples became a mixture of religious beliefs, the famous Turkish traveler, Evlia Celebi mentioned, ‘... go to Mangalia, which is the Kaaba

Makkah Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

of the wandering and poor people.'' Esmehan Sultan Mosque was constructed in 1575 by its namesake, Ismihan, the daughter of Ottoman Sultan Selim II and

Nurbanu Sultan Nurbanu Sultan ( ota, نور بانو سلطان; "''Queen of light''", 1525 – 7 December 1583) was Haseki Sultan of the Ottoman Empire as the principal consort of Sultan Selim II (reign 1566–1574), his legal wife, as well Valide Sultan (Su ...

, and wife of Ottoman Grand Vizier

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Sokollu Mehmed Pasha ( ota, صوقوللى محمد پاشا, Ṣoḳollu Meḥmed Pașa, tr, Sokollu Mehmet Paşa; ; ; 1506 – 11 October 1579) was an Ottoman statesman most notable for being the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Born in ...

. It was renovated in the 1990s and includes a graveyard with 300-year-old tombstones.

Structure

The mosque was constructed with cut stone rescued from the Callatis ruins by a team of Turkish craftsmen. The stone blocks were glued together without the use of any binder, but merely with cast steel staples put in holes drilled in the stone. Oak props are installed at the Esmahan Sultan Mosque's entryway. The Minbar (pulpit), a place of prayer arranged as a balcony with stairs from where the imam, the Muslim priest speaks on and every feast day, may be situated on the wall opposite the mosque entrance (another term for places of Muslim worship). The mihrab, or blind window, and a Mecca-oriented niche are positioned on the left side of the Minbar. It is a type of shrine where the Imam performs religious services every day. The inside is devoid of cult paintings and other ornamental elements. The ceiling is adorned with beautiful woodwork and exquisite craftsmanship that grabs the attention of all visitors. I t should be noticed that the women's prayer areas are divided from the rest of the room by a modest wooden barrier. The terrace at the summit of the minaret (from where the Imam used to issue the call to prayer) may be reached by spiral staircases.The porch pillars and wooden railings give the building a distinctive appearance on the outside. A fountain built of stone from an old tomb may be found inside the worship space. In addition, the mosque is flanked by a cemetery as precious as the monument itself, which contains Muslim tombs dating back more than 300 years. Both the mosque and the cemetery are listed as Historical Monuments in Romania.

References

''Moscheea ridicată de prinţesa Esmahan''
Jurnalul Naţional
Muftiyat of Romania - contains detailed information about mosques in Romania
{{coord, 43, 48, 37, N, 28, 34, 59, E, region:RO_type:landmark_source:kolossus-rowiki, display=title Mangalia Mosques completed in 1575 Ottoman mosques in Romania Buildings and structures in Constanța County Historic monuments in Constanța County Religious buildings and structures completed in 1575

History

Structure

See also

References