The Hünkar Mosque (; , lit. "Sovereign's Mosque") is a mosque located at 41 Tomis Boulevard,

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

, Romania. The mosque was completed in 1869, nine years before

Northern Dobruja Northern Dobruja ( or simply ; , ''Severna Dobrudzha'') is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube, Danube River and the Black Sea, bordered in the south by Southern Dobruja, which is a part of Bulgaria. ...

became part of Romania, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan

Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother Abdulmejid I in 1861. Ab ...

. Hence, it is also known as the Aziziye Mosque, and his

tughra A tughra (; ) is a calligraphy, calligraphic monogram, Seal (emblem), seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the Tamga, tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the co ...

features on the left side of the entrance, within an oval medallion of marble. The minaret is 24 meters high, dominating its surroundings. The building is in a simple Ottoman style, with a tile roof, and is cube-shaped like the ''

Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...

''. It is made of carved stone that came from the entrance gate to the Ottoman fortress, the walls of which were demolished in 1828. In turn, the stone for those walls came from the Greco-Roman vestiges of ancient Tomis. The interior carpet was donated in 2001 by Turkish President

Ahmet Necdet Sezer Ahmet Necdet Sezer (; born 13 September 1941) is a Turkish statesman and judge who served as the tenth president of Turkey from 2000 to 2007. Previously, he was president of the Constitutional Court of Turkey from January 1998 to May 2000. The ...

. Nicoleta Baciu
“Simbol al Constanței vechi, Geamia ‘Hunchiar’ va fi pusă în valoare de Muftiatul Cultului Musulman”
in ''Ziua de Constanța'', November 21, 2019 During the interwar period, the mosque came close to demolition, with proponents arguing that the structurally weak minaret posed a threat to passersby. Historian

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

successfully refuted this claim. During World War II, Soviet bombing seriously damaged the mosque, and its total razing was again suggested. It underwent restoration in the years after the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

, at the same time becoming choked by new construction in the neighborhood. The mosque is listed as a

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2010: Județul Constanța

References

{{Mosques in Romania Buildings and structures in Constanța Historic monuments in Constanța County Mosques completed in the 1860s Religious buildings and structures completed in 1869 1869 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Ottoman mosques in Romania