Kapan Mosque

Kapan Mosque or Karaca Ibrahim Bey Mosque is a historic Ottoman-era mosque located within the boundaries of the central district of Kırklareli province.

History

Since its foundation inscription is missing, there is no precise information about the exact construction date, and it is thought that the mosque, which belongs to the Karaca Ibrahim Bey Foundation, was built before Hijri 1050 (AD 1640) or in 1640. This date is also noted by Ali Rıza Dursunkaya, taking into account the date on the tombstones that were previously in the mosque courtyard. B. Kemal Altan, Chief Architect of the Thrace General Inspection, states that the patron of the building, Karaca Ibrahim Bey, is the Karaca Bey buried in the martyrs' cemetery in Gallipoli. During the Balkan Wars, it was destroyed by the Bulgarian army that occupied Kırklareli, part of its minaret was demolished, a cross was placed on it and it was used as a church. The graves in the mosque's cemetery were desecrated.

Renovations

The mosque was renovated in Hijri 1314 (AD 1896) by Mutasarrıf Yanyalı Mustafa Neş'et Pasha, and foundation shops were built next to the mosque to generate income.

The structure, which was destroyed together with the surrounding foundation shops during the Balkan Wars, was repaired again on Hijri 1334 (AD 1915) during World War I. This repair was carried out with the assistance of Mufti Baba and Major Aziz Bey, who at that time served as the Head of the Military Construction Commission. The last two verses of the repair inscription written by Mufti Baba on the interior door of the mosque are conveyed by Ali Rıza Dursunkaya as follows:

"Stone fell, the core dropped, the date emerged from the head of Hamed

It became a burden, the Kapan mosque's structure is steadfast

1336 Hijri

Also during this repair, a building for a fetvahane with three rooms and a hall was started next to the mosque, but this structure could only be completed in 1920 with the assistance of the regional Gendarmerie Commander, Major Hikmet Bey.

During the 1958 restoration, its minaret, which has survived to the present day, was built, and it was restored by the General Directorate of Foundations between 2007 and 2009, returning to its current appearance. The mosque is open to the public today.

Architecture

The building, with a square plan, is covered by a four‑bay wooden broken roof tiled with Marseille tiles, and its walls were constructed using two rows of regular cut stone and two rows of brick‑bonded alternating stone technique. The adjacent fetvahane (former mufti’s office) was added later. This structure is used today as a women’s gallery, and the window on this façade was converted into a door to provide access to the mosque. The wooden women’s gallery and pulpit in the mosque are not original. The regular cut stone, lattice‑work, single‑shank minaret was built during the 1958 repair.