The Yakovalı Hasan Paşa Mosque (, ) is an early 17th-century mosque in

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

, southern

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. It was constructed when the region was part of the Turkish

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, together with the main mosque of Pécs, the Mosque of Pasha Qasim (which has since been consecrated as a cathedral). It was named after the local government official who commissioned the mosque, Yakovalı Hasan Paşa, or Hasan

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

of Yakova. It is thus one of the oldest mosques existing in Hungary today, and is considered to be the most intact Hungarian mosque to have survived from the Ottoman era. The mosque is still active as a Muslim place of worship, and also houses a small exhibition centre for Turkish handicraft and historical artifacts documenting Hungary's Ottoman past.

History

The mosque was built several decades after the Ottoman conquest of central Hungary. Its architect and exact date of construction are unknown. Several sources speculate that it was built in the late 16th century, but it is more likely that it was constructed in the 1630s. The mosque was named after its benefactor who established a vakuf (endowment) for the mosque's construction, Yakovalı Hasan Paşa, or Hasan

of Yakova. The "Yakova" in his epithet either refers to the town of

Gjakova Gjakova or Đakovica, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the sixth largest city of Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the District of Gjakova, Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakov ...

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Đakovo Đakovo (; , , sr-Cyrl, Ђаково) is a town in the region of Slavonia, Croatia. Đakovo is the centre of the fertile and rich Đakovo region ( ). Etymology The etymology of the name is the (diákos) in Slavic form đak (pupil). The Hungar ...

in present-day Croatia. Yakovalı Hasan participated in the successful siege of

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

(Varat) in 1660, and defended Pécs and Kanizsa against the troops of Miklós Zrínyi in 1664. He also took part in the border demarcations following the Peace of Vasvár. The mosque was in use for about half a century before being presumably abandoned from late 1686 when Pécs was captured by Austrian forces, after which it served as a

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

. Between 1702 and 1732, it was converted into a Catholic chapel by the Bishop Wilhelm Franz von Nesselrode. During this time, the

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

was turned into a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

, with the ruined

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

being replaced with a belfry. Its interior was decorated with

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

carvings which were then in fashion. The mosque was first restored in the 1960s, when the minaret was repaired and the Baroque ornamentation removed to restore the mosque to its original condition. A second restoration was conducted in the 2000s, in time for Pécs's designation as the European Capital for Culture in 2010 (along with

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

). The mosque is open to the public on designated days except Mondays and Friday services from 2.30 to 3.30 pm. Its upkeep is funded by private donations as well as grants from the Turkish state. A permanent exhibition opened in 2022, with Turkey providing interior furnishings from the 16th century.

Architecture

Yakovalı Hasan Paşa Mosque has a relatively simple structure, with a square base surmounted by a typical Turkish dome and

ogee An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...

windows. As with all mosques, it is orientated towards

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and thus has a northwest–southeast axis. The

is 22.5 m high. A flight of stairs leads to the top of the minaret, but due to stability concerns the entrance is sealed off to visitors. The balcony was once adorned with a stone railing. On religious holidays the minaret used to be lit up with

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. The ...

s (see also mahya lights). It is one of only three Ottoman-era minarets remaining in Hungary, and the only one still attached to a mosque and retaining its original function. There was once a foyer on the northwest side of the mosque, part of a larger complex which included a tekke (a sort of monastery for sufi dervishes), an imaret (

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to Hunger, hungry and homeless people, usually for no price, cost, or sometimes at a below-market price (such as coin Donation, donations). Frequently located in Low i ...

for the needy), and a madrassa (Islamic school). A statue of the Ottoman chronicler İbrahim Peçevi (Ibrahim of Pécs), by Turkish sculptor

Metin Yurdanur Metin Yurdanur (born 1951) is a sculptor based in Turkey, who was awarded the title State Artist (Turkey), State Artist of Turkey. Early years Yurdanur was born in 1951 in Sivrihisar town of Eskişehir Province in Turkey. He spent his childhood ...

, was unveiled before the mosque in 2016.

Gallery

File:Pécs Osmanische Moschee Innen 3.JPG, Main prayer hall. The

mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...

, where the

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

leads congregational prayers, is in the centre File:Pécs Osmanische Moschee Innen 2.JPG, Another view of the prayer hall, with

prayer rug A prayer rug or prayer mat is a piece of fabric, sometimes a pile carpet, used by Muslims, some Christians, especially in Orthodox Christianity and some followers of the Baháʼí Faith during prayer. In Islam, a prayer mat is placed between th ...

s. The small wooden structure near the corner is a ''kürsü'' or loge for delivering lectures other than Friday sermons at the minbar, and is typical of Turkish mosques File:Pécs Osmanische Moschee Innen Minbar.JPG, The

minbar A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...

or pulpit. Both the minbar and the kürsü are made from

rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

.The Mosque of Pasha Yakovali Hassan, Pécs.
Danube Tourism. Retrieved 1 June 2023 File:Pécs Osmanische Moschee Innen Kuppel.JPG, Interior of the dome File:Hungary pecs - jakovali2.jpg,

Koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

on the stand with a sign reads “This carpet is a present of the Turkish Ministry of Culture” File:Yakovali Hassan mosque, museum 1.jpg, Exhibition corner File:Yakovali Hassan mosque side.jpg, Wall of the mosque with windows

References

External links

Official Website of the Mosque of Yakovalı Hasan Paşa (In English, Hungarian, and Turkish)

Irány Pécs (Visit Pécs): The Mosque of Pasha Yakovali Hassan

History

Architecture

Gallery

References

External links

Further reading