Kara Musa Pasha Mosque

Historical mosque in Rethymno, Greece

35°21′59.69″N 24°28′44.08″E / 35.3665806°N 24.4789111°E / 35.3665806; 24.4789111ArchitectureTypeMosqueCompleted17th centurySpecificationsDome(s)1Minaret(s)1 (destroyed)MaterialsStone

The Kara Musa Pasha Mosque (Greek: Τζαμί Καρά Μουσά Πασά, Turkish: Kara Musa Paşa Camii) is a historical Ottoman mosque in the town of Rethymno, on the island of Crete, Greece.

History

Located on Arkadiou street, it was most likely erected during the 1680s, or right after the conquest of the city in 1646,^[1] perhaps by the Ottoman governor of Crete,^[2] on the site of a Venetian monastery dedicated to Saint Barbara.^[1]^[3] Another date of erection suggested is 1683.^[3] Today it is preserved in its entirety in good condition, save for its minaret, of which only the base survives.^[2] It has been restored by the Greek Archaeological Service, and is being considered to be made into a museum about the Ottoman architecture of Crete.^[2]

Architecture

After the monastery's conversion into mosque in the seventeenth century, a dome and a minaret was added to it by the Ottoman Turks.^[4]

In the area there is also a fountain topped with a dome, which has two sides: one side facing Arkadiou Street, and the other the courtyard of the mosque. Under its dome is the entrance to the mosque. A turbes (a type of vaulted funerary structure) is preserved in the precinct, in which the founder of the mosque, Kara Musa Pasha, was probably buried.^[1]

Gallery

Kara Musa Pasha Mosque
Mosque and fountained surrounded by plantlife.
Gate.
View of the fountain.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Τζαμί Καρά Μουσά Πασά" [Kara Musa Pasha Mosque]. rethymno.gr (in Greek). Retrieved November 28, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kolovos, Elias (2015). "Monuments sans héritiers ? Les édifices ottomans de Crète". Anatoli. 6 (6): 237–256. doi:10.4000/anatoli.308.
^ ^a ^b "Καρά Μουσά Πασά Τζαμί [συνοικία]" [Kara Musa Pasha Mosque (neighbourhood)]. historicalcrete.ims.forth.gr (in Greek). Retrieved November 28, 2022.
^ "Ρέθυμνο, το τζαμί του Καρά Μουσά Πασά" [Rethymno, the mosque of Kara Musa Pasha]. explorecrete.com (in Greek). Retrieved November 28, 2022.