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Mangalia and the Mosque 'Esmahan Sultan'
āā¦ Go toĀ Mangalia, which is the Kaaba-Mecca of the wandering and poor people.ā
Mosque Esmahan Sultan from Mangalia, Romania
With these words described the richness and cultural mix of over 2000 years of history of Mangalia Ā ā the city from the Ā Black Sea seashore ā the famous Turkish traveler Evlia Celebi, Ā in 1452, Ā when Dobruja was under Ottoman domination and the population of Tatars, Turks, Bulgarians, Circassians, Gagauz, Greek, Hebrew had become an almost unique mosaic of religions confessions.
In XVIth century, Princess (hatun) Esmahan Sultan, the granddaughter of the famous Soliman the Magnificent (1520-1566), the daughter of Selim II (1566-1574) and the wife of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha ā Grand Vizier and Governor General of Rumelia (1565-1579), Ā retired to Mangalia and, at 73 years after the famous sayings of Evlia Celebi, she raised, in honor of her father Selim II the Esmahan Sultan mosque. It is believed that the young widow took refuge Ā in Mangalia, after the death of her father and her husband, Ā and contributed to the building of this holy place.
Mosque Esmahan Sultan from Mangalia, Romania ā Minaret
If at the Ā beginning it was a āgeamieā ( a place of worship for theĀ Muslims, usually smallerĀ than a mosque) later the place will be raised to the rank of a mosque and named after the Princess Esmahan Sultan,Ā its founder.
Mosque was build in 1525 (1573 based on different sources) or in 931 after Muslim calendar Hadjira, being one of the oldest or maybe even the oldest Muslim worship places in Romania. This historical and art Muslim monument was built in Moorish style and is now the only medieval remained building in Mangalia a city of reference inĀ ancient history.
Construction was made of stones taken from walls of ancient city Callatis and it was carved by local Turk masons. It is worth mentioning that the building of stone blocks was made without using any binder, but molded metal staples in stone holes. Same technology was also used to build the minaret.
Mosque Esmahan Sultan from Mangalia, Romania ā Interior
Esmahan Sultan Mosque entrance has a beautiful gallery equipped with roof pillars of oak, split in four. Inside the mosque is minber (pulpit) for imamās preach, the mihrab (altar) and the blind window or niche oriented to the Black Stone, the Kaaba-Mecca. The ceiling with Gobek and wooden inlay is a great artistic achievement. A touch of originality gives the division by a low railing, at the entrance into the Ā religious space,Ā of a space exclusively for women.
Minaret is located on the north side of the mosque and the terrace of the minaret can be reached via a spiraling staircase. The mosque has two rows of windows, of which those at the lower level were quadrilateral and the upper level, arches. Porch with shelter and Saciak, wooden pillars and railings give also a unique Ā architecture of the mosque Esmahan Sultan.
Mosque Esmahan Sultan from Mangalia, Romania ā Praying time
Outside, Esmahan Sultan Mosque has a ritual fountain made from an old Roman tomb, surrounded by stars and tombstones from the cemetery. In the Mosque courtyard were buried local Muslim personalities, business important people, soldiers, even several remarkable Turkish generals from XVIII century. Carved turban suggests that the person was decapitated, although he was relative close relative to theĀ Sultan.
The oldest tombstone discovered, apparently originates from 1519, thus meeting to launch a new building date attributed to the mosque, or the assumption that where the mosque is now, was another, much older. Moreover, it would bring forward the hypothesis that the mosque at Babadag, built in 1522, is the oldest in this area. Funerary inscriptions on stars are in three languages, many expressions of Persian and Arabic are combined on a background of Turkish-Osman languages.
Mosque Esmahan Sultan from Mangalia, Romania ā The Cemetery
Of all the funeral markings, one is really disturbing moral expression: āToday me, tomorrow youā. Anyway, because of the mixture of expressions from different languages used, only a small part could be deciphered.
MangaliaĀ and mosqueĀ Esmahan Sultan, together with all the other historical monuments remained around the city, are a live prove and a continuity of five centuries of travelerāsĀ Evlia CelebiĀ words.Ā A visit inĀ MangaliaĀ at mosqueĀ Esmahan Sultan, followed by one traditional Turkish suberek and ayran, a selection of Turkish sweets or baklava accompanied by a Turkish coffee are a must of any holiday on theĀ Romanian Black SeaĀ coast.
