The Osman Shah Mosque ( el, Τέμενος Οσμάν Σαχ) or Kursum Mosque (Κουρσούμ Τζαμί, from tr, kurşun camii, 3=Leaden Mosque) is a 16th-century Ottoman mosque in the city of

Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...

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 wi ...

Description

The mosque was commissioned by Osman Shah, also known as Kara Osman Pasha, who was the son of one of Sultan

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

's daughters and the executed

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

İskender Pasha (died 1515). Osman Shah for a long time dwelt in Trikala as the governor of the local province, the

Sanjak of Trikala The Sanjak of Tirhala or Trikala (Ottoman Turkish: ; el, λιβάς/σαντζάκι Τρικάλων) was second-level Ottoman province ( or ) encompassing the region of Thessaly. Its name derives from the Turkish version of the name of the town ...

. The mosque was designed by the Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan and is the only one that lies in

modern Greece The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition by the Great Powers — Britain, France and Russia — of its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1828 to the present day. Background The Byzantine Empire had ...

. The exact dating of the mosque is uncertain, but it was probably built in the period 1550–60, most likely in the late 1550s. Osman attached several charitable establishments to the mosque, among others a ''

madrasah 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 '' ...

'', an alms house, and a

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

, and was himself buried in a ''

türbe ''Türbe'' is the Turkish word for "tomb". In Istanbul it is often used to refer to the mausolea of the Ottoman sultans and other nobles and notables. The word is derived from the Arabic ''turbah'' (meaning ''"soil/ground/earth"''), which ...

'' in the mosque's southern courtyard at the time of his death in 1567/8. By the time of

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

's visit a century later, the mosque was the principal mosque of the city. It is also the only mosque still standing in the city of Trikala out of the at least eight that Evliya Çelebi reported seeing. The building itself consists of a square prayer hall topped by a large diameter semi-spherical dome. The portico (''revak'') in front, was completely rebuilt in the renovations carried out in 1998. The ashlar

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

is located on the northwestern corner and is well preserved, except for its missing roof. All other buildings attached to the mosque have since vanished, except for the founder's octagonal ''türbe'' (tomb), which is used as a storage site for artefacts recovered from archaeological excavations.

References

Sources

External links

* {{Ottoman monuments of Thessaly 16th-century mosques Mimar Sinan buildings Ottoman mosques in Greece Buildings and structures in Trikala Ottoman architecture in Thessaly 16th-century architecture in Greece Former mosques in Greece Mosque buildings with domes

Description

See also

References

Sources

External links