Iskender Bey Mosque in Yenice-i Vardar (Yanitsa) to be repaired
According to the news in the Naftemboriki newspaper, the Ethniki Bank, which appears as the owner, donated the mosque to the Ministry of Culture without any compensation.
Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and CEO of Ethniki Bank Pavlos Milonas made statements on the subject.
Minister of Culture Mendoni reminded that the Mosque of Iskender Bey is one of the most important Ottoman historical monuments of Yanitsa (Yenice-i Vardar) and thanked the bank manager Milonas for the donation, saying: "I would like to thank Mr. Milonas for donating this historical monument to our ministry without asking for any compensation. This has paved the way for this historical monument to be rediscovered, repaired and brought into the cultural life of the city as an art gallery and cultural centre. The preparation of the projects will be started first in order to provide the necessary financing for the repair, restoration and revitalisation."
Pavlos Milonas, director of Ethniki Bank, referred to the cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and the bank, and said that the grant in question was made within the framework of the bank's support programme for the steps taken to reveal the cultural richness of Greece.
The Iskender Bey Mosque, which was introduced to history, suffered great damage during the Balkan Wars and the First World War. Then it started to serve as a cotton factory.
During this period, it was stated that some illegal constructions were made in the surrounding garden belonging to the mosque foundation.
MİLLET's OPINION
Another step is being taken for this historical Ottoman artefact, which is far from its old state, abandoned to its own fate and even wanted to be destroyed, to hold on to life.
We are in a strange feeling whether to be happy or sad.
Whose property, who is donating to whom? We couldn't help asking the question!
The announcement that this Ottoman temple, which until yesterday was a cotton factory, will serve as an art gallery and a cultural centre after its renovation is another matter. This is the real reason for the bitter joy!
When we saw the headline, we were happy for a moment.
We said maybe!
But when we read the lines and understood that the cotton factory would be transformed into a cultural centre, our joy, so to speak, was in our mouths.
Now it may be saved as a building and structure!
Unfortunately, it will not be able to serve its original purpose again!
Should we be happy? Should we be sad? We have mixed feelings.
ISKENDER BEY MOSQUE
Iskender Bey Mosque (Greek: Τζαμί του Ισκεντέρ Μπέη) or Evrenosoglu Iskender Bey Mosque is a historic Ottoman mosque in the town of Yenice-i Vardar in Central Macedonia (Northern Greece). It was built in the early 16th century by Evrenosoglu Iskender Bey, grandson of Gazi Evrenos, the founder of Yenice-i Vardar. Today, the mosque is in a very bad condition and in need of repair. It is not open for public use. Today it is one of the three surviving Ottoman mosques in Yenice-i Vardar.
History
The mosque was probably built between 1481 and 1512, most likely in the early 16th century, by Evrenosoglu İskender Bey, grandson of Gazi Evrenos.[1] It was also called Büyük Cami.[2] It is also suggested that İskender Bey repaired this mosque built by his grandfather. [3]
When the Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi visited Yenice-i Vardar in the seventeenth century, he described it as "the most advanced, organised, furnished, beautiful" building in the town, visited by many people. [4] [3]
It was heavily damaged by bombardment during the First Balkan War in 1911-12. In 1912, after the annexation of Yenice-i Vardar and Macedonia region by the Kingdom of Greece, it was sold by the Central Bank to individuals and used as a warehouse until 1950, then as a cotton factory.[5] In 1974 and 2000, the mosque was declared a cultural monument. [6] The process of expropriation by the Ministry of Culture has been ongoing since the end of 2021.[7]
Architectural Features
Evliya Çelebi describes the mosque, built in the centre of the bazaar, as a masjid with a lead-covered dome.[4] The brick roof tiles typical of Byzantine architecture were used in many Ottoman monuments in Greece, including the Iskender Bey Mosque.[8] The mosque was built in an iwaned form, shaped by the central place of worship and the iwan of the prayer hall.[9] The Iskender Bey Mosque is one of the two mosques of this style in Greece, the other being the Alaca Imaret Mosque in Thessaloniki.[9] The mosque has side rooms forming a rectangular space, covered by two large half domes connected to the central dome along the same axis. With this feature, the mosque has a unique characteristic not found elsewhere in Ottoman architecture.[9]
The mosque has a five-bay portico (along with a three-bay one), the most common type among the Ottoman mosques in Greece.[10] The diameter of the dome was fourteen metres when it was still standing.[11] In recent years, as a result of the various uses of the mosque, both the interior and the exterior have undergone many changes, while the main dome has been demolished.[5] According to old documents, only the base of the minaret, which stood at least until the 1930s, is standing today. Nothing remains of the old fountain and cemetery. [5]
The Iskender Bey Mosque has been described by professor Machiel Kiel as "a highly original building of a kind we find nowhere else in the vast dominance of Ottoman architecture".
Wikipedia
