Banya Bashi Mosque Sofia Bulgaria | Historical Places:

Banyabashi Mosque is a mosque built in Sofia, the capital of today's Bulgaria, during the Ottoman Empire.

Banya Bashi Mosque Sofia Bulgaria | Historical Places

Banyabashi Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Europe. Although there are various dates about its establishment, it is more appropriate to accept the year 1566. It was designed by Mimar Sinan. Its most striking feature is its large dome and minaret height.

Despite the activities of the Bulgarian authorities and racist parties, the mosque is the only one in Sofia that remains open for worship today.

Since a benefactor named Molla Efendi Kadı Seyfullah founded the Banyabasi Mosque, located in the heart of Sofia, on Mariya Luiza Street, the largest street of the city, between Sofia Central Bath and the market, under the largest trade store known as Tsum, it is named after him in some sources. is also mentioned. It is also called Seyfullah Efendi Mosque. Various sources also show the date of establishment differently. The mosque, which Evliya Çelebi described as “the mosque with the most beautiful minaret in Sofia”, is almost the symbol of the Bulgarian capital today with its large dome rising in the middle of four corner domes and a single minaret. It has a three-domed tetimme (addition and completion) in front of it. This was done to the soul of the deceased wife of Kadi Seyfullah.

Banyabaşı Mosque is interesting in terms of architecture. Constructed with rows of bricks, towers placed on four corners, as in the Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Razgrad, are double breasted at the corners of the 16-segmented pulley. The place of the Last Congregation and the arch mirrors are made of cut stone, and the columns are solid and dark in color. The titles are double stalactite. The single door is made of cut stone, ending with a small crown. There is an unreadable black inscription written on stone on the arch mirror and the date 974 (1566-1567) underneath.

It is natural that the mosque, which has a history of nearly 500 years, has been brought to its present state not with its original, but with many repairs. The last foundation repair was financed by Turkish Ambassador Fethi Bey in the 1920s. The marble pulpit cracked by earthquakes was replaced at that time. Plaster, paint and floor heating system facilities, both during the time of totalitarianism and after democracy came, were built with the help of various Arab and Turkish foundations and individual benefactors. In its current form, the mosque gathers 700 congregations on Fridays and over 1200 congregations on holidays.

In May 2006, members of the ATAKA party, which is known for its racist views in Bulgaria, set up a tent next to the Banyabashi mosque in the capital Sofia and started a petition to ban the call to prayer in mosques.