Semiz Ali Pasha Mosque

Semiz Ali Pasha Mosque or Cedid Ali Pasha Mosque, a historic Ottoman‑period mosque commissioned by Semiz Ali Pasha from Mimar Sinan, is located within the boundaries of the Babaeski district of Kırklareli Province.

History

It is known that the mosque, for which no construction inscription exists, was commissioned in the 16th century by Semiz Ali Pasha from the imperial architect Koca Sinan. According to a fiscal document dated Hijri 982, it was built as a complex (külliye) that included a madrasa, a caravanserai and a market, although only the mosque itself has survived to the present day. No clear information exists about the madrasa, caravanserai, bathhouse and market that are thought to have formed the complex. While the lists of Mimar Sinan’s works contain the names of a mosque and a madrasa in Babaeski, the names of a bathhouse and a caravanserai are not mentioned. The Ali Pasha Bazaar in Edirne was also commissioned by Semiz Ali Pasha from Mimar Sinan, and its revenue was endowed to this mosque. Hüseyin Ayvansarâyî lists among the structures built by Semiz Ali Pasha a mosque, a double bathhouse and a fountain. During the Bulgarian occupation of Babaeski in 1911‑1912, the mosque’s minaret was destroyed down to its base.

Restorations

According to the repair inscription on the entrance gate on the western side of the mosque courtyard, a major restoration was carried out during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II in Hijri 1248 (AD 1832). The inscription is recorded as follows:

The minaret destroyed by the Bulgarians in 1911‑1912 was rebuilt in 1934. It was restored by the Edirne Foundations Regional Directorate between 1986 and 1988. Restorations were also carried out in 2013 and 2018, and the mosque is currently open for worship. The mosque was registered by decision No. 7 dated 08.04.1988.

Architecture

The mosque’s prayer hall (harim) has a nearly rectangular plan close to a square, with a single dome, a spacious courtyard and a double‑rowed porticoed rear prayer area. The worship space is covered by a central dome supported on six arches and by semi‑domes. Large buttresses stand on the east and west sides of this space. The double‑porticoed rear prayer area to the north is covered by a cross vault and two pairs of domes. All domes are covered with lead. Weight towers are located at the corners of the mosque’s outer walls. In the western corner of the mosque there is a minaret built of cut stone. The single‑shanked minaret, partially destroyed during the Balkan Wars, was repaired in 1934 to its original condition.

The mosque is entered through a single portal with a mihrab niche on both sides leading to the sanctuary. The mihrab area protrudes outward and is covered with a half dome. In the interior, the mahfil sections are placed between the load-bearing arches on the walls. The pendentives, which are the elements leading to the dome, contain muqarnas. The upper floor windows of the mosque are set within pointed arches, while the larger lower row windows are surrounded by rectangular outer contours.

In the mosque courtyard, on the line of the mihrab, there is the main entrance door, and on the right side there is a side entrance door with a repair plaque that has survived to the present day. In the middle of the courtyard, which is not surrounded by arcades, there is a fountain covered with a twelve‑sided wooden roof, thought to have been built in the late Ottoman period. Above the northern gate of the courtyard that opens to the street, there is a space described by Goodwin and, according to Tuncel, considered to have functioned as a library, a view opposed by Semavi Eyice.