Gazi Süleyman Paşa Mosque

Gazi Süleyman Paşa Mosque or Small Hagia Sophia is a mosque located in the Vize district of Kırklareli. It was built in the 6th century during the reign of Roman Emperor Justinian I as a basilica‑style church, and it is thought to have been converted into a mosque after Vize definitively passed to Ottoman rule in the 15th century. The structure of the mosque is compared to Hagia Sophia and Saint Irene. The mosque was restored in 2007 by the General Directorate of Foundations.

History

Although it is accepted that it was built in the 6th century during the reign of Roman Emperor Justinian I, there are also views that it was constructed in the 9th–10th centuries or during the Early Palaiologan period of the 12th–13th centuries. How the Small Hagia Sophia, built as an Orthodox church, was used in 1205 under the Latin rule in Vize is unknown.

After the Ottoman Empire captured Vize Castle, the building was converted into a mosque. There are different opinions about who Süleyman Paşa, after whom the building is named, was. According to one claim, the mosque takes its name from Süleyman Paşa, the son of Orhan Gazi, but since Süleyman Paşa died before the conquest of Vize, this naming must have been made in his memory. Other claims state that the building was converted into a mosque by Rumeli Beylerbeyi Hadım Süleyman Paşa, known for the mosques he built in Edirne and Ferecik, or by Süleyman Paşa, the grandson of Gazi Mihal of the Mihaloğlu family. Evliya Çelebi, however, states that the building was turned into a mosque by Fatih Sultan Mehmed after the conquest of Istanbul and was called Fatih Mosque. Ottoman archival documents clearly indicate that the person mentioned in the mosque endowment is Süleyman Paşa, the son of Orhan Bey.

It is clearly understood that Süleyman Paşa, the son of Orhan Bey, is the person referred to in the Ottoman archive documents.

Restorations

At an unknown date during the Ottoman period, the entire north façade and half of the dome were rebuilt. The western part of the building’s gallery was covered with a wooden roof, a stone minaret was erected at the southwest corner, and in the 19th century a wooden mahfil was added to the structure. The large number of tombstones around the mosque indicates that there was once a large cemetery surrounding the building.

Ottoman Period

It is known that the building's repair was started in 1839 during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid, before the proclamation of the Tanzimat Edict, and that it was repaired in 1848. During the reign of Abdul Hamid II, a comprehensive restoration process that began in May 1900 by the sultan's will lasted about 2–3 years and was completed at the latest in November 1903, and it was opened with an official ceremony held in Vize.

The building's minaret was destroyed in 1912 by the Bulgarian army during the First Balkan War.

Republican Period

In 1952–1953 the Foundations Regional Directorate planned to restore it, but this plan could not be implemented and in the following years the mosque community was lost and it was abandoned. In 1979 the Edirne Foundations Regional Directorate started works that were abandoned in 1983 due to financial difficulties. It was also stated that the interventions made during these works caused the loss of important archaeological information. In addition, these works reached a semicircular brick apse ruin thought to belong to an older church in the area. In 1995 an architectural survey and cleaning work was carried out by Özkan Ertuğrul of Trakya University. During the cleaning of the Narteks section, well‑preserved frescoes depicting a praying figure were encountered, but these frescoes have not survived to the present day.

In the 2000s, a large-scale renovation and restoration project was carried out on the building, its minaret was rebuilt, and it has been opened for worship today. During this work, significant alterations were made to the structure, existing archaeological data were lost, the ruined ribbed vault was demolished and rebuilt, and criticisms have been made that during the excavation of the soil accumulated on the west side of the building, the 18 graves, architectural fragments, and wall remains previously identified were removed.