Valide Djami (Mosque) in Mytilene

The Valide Mosque[1], the earliest Muslim Mosque in Mytilene, is located in today’s Epano Skala, between Tinos and Kornaros Streets, in an area that used to be part of the famous Ottoman district of Azizie. It was the property of Şemseddin Hoca and was bordered on the north by the garden of the Karamanos residence, on the east by the house of Mehmed Efendi and on the west by the house of Şembeti Hoca.

The Valide Mosque was founded in 1780 on the site of an earlier Mosque dating back to 1615. The inscription, which is now preserved in situ on the lintel of the façade, belongs to the oldest Mosque established in 1615 and refers to its inception by Hasan Bey Abat. The 1780 foundation inscription of the later building is not preserved today as it was destroyed during an earthquake. Because of this destruction, the Valide Mosque was rebuilt in 1867. The existing form of the building is the result of this reconstruction. From the surviving vakfiye (foundation document) of the monument, we learn that this Mosque, which was the centre of multiple socio-religious activities of the Muslim community, was dedicated to Huri Hanum, mother of Um Giulsum, daughter of second-in-command Khalil Ağa and wife of Hâfiz es-Seyyid Mustafa Efendi.

The original total area of the Mosque, including the paved courtyard and the enclosure, originally exceeded 1,360 m². Later, the courtyard was reduced. The entrance was protected by a metal railing and was located on the southeastern side of the courtyard. To the west, there was a well with a marble mouth and in the centre a polygonal fountain – made of white marble and decorated with architectural reliefs and arabesques – which can be seen today in the courtyard of the Former Archaeological Museum of Mytilene.

The Valide Mosque is a stone-built[2], one-storey, tile-roofed building, which was constructed with a four-tiered roof, the front part of which is not preserved today. The floor plan of the building is square, measuring 10 x 11.5 m., while the total height of the building is estimated at 6.8 m. In the middle of its northern side, a three-sided marble staircase with three landings leads to the rectangular, elongated exonarthex, which is open today (due to its collapse) and is 3.2 m. deep. The two-panel wooden doorway of the building (width: 1.7 m. and height: 2.9 m.), as well as the two large windows (width: 1 m. and height: 2.15 m.) on either side of it, protected by metal railings, have an elaborate arched decorative finial made of stone from the region of Mistegna. Two oval skylights open above the two arched windows, at the height of the foundation inscription on the lintel, which served to illuminate the loft (women’s quarters) in the interior. A similar architectural symmetry is visible on the other sides of the building, where a pair of similar windows and skylights are found in the same arrangement.

On the inside, the floor was covered with wooden panelling. The esonarthex (inner narthex), was 2.5 m. long and 3 m. high and was separated from the main prayer room by an archway which consisted of four short wooden pillars that supported five arches, one narrower in the middle, 2.1 m. wide and four others, each 2.65 m. wide, which were arranged two by two on either side of the central pillar. Initially, the ceiling of the esonarthex was colourfully decorated but would later (in the 17th c.) be covered with a dark-coloured coating. The impressive mihrab[3] had an elaborate plaster relief and its overall height was 6 m..

In the northwest corner rises the fragmentary minaret of the Mosque (the best preserved in Mytilene), made of stone from the region of Mistegna, which originally reached a height of 15 m. Its base is hexagonal with a gradual reduction towards the upper part, while its cylindrical trunk was crowned with two domes, one hemispherical and a second conical at its upper end, which was topped with three metallic spheres and a crescent. The entrance to the minaret, 1.7 m. high and 64 cm. wide, had a stone staircase with three landings and opened at the northeast corner of the base. Next to the base was the entrance leading to the loft (women’s quarters). Three vertical, narrow and elongated skylights are found in the southern part of the minaret, thus serving the necessary need for light in the interior.

Over the years, the Archaeological Service has carried out architectural and structural studies and has taken immediate fixing measures, while at the same time, carrying out a series of maintenance works, the most recent of which were carried out in 2018, with the ultimate goal being the overall restoration and future rendition of the monument to the general public, creating a safe museum space of cultural significance.

 

[1] Also known as Valizaade, Valizade, Validezade, Balik, Baldjizade, Valide or Vali Mosque.

[2] With the exception of some brick parts (brick masonry) in the masonry of the monument (such as the eastern side), due to the aforementioned reconstruction of the monument and because of the destructive effects of the earthquake that preceded it.

[3] The semi-circular sacred niche in Muslim mosques.

Location

Municipality: Mytilene

Municipal Section: Mytilene

Location: Kornaros Street, Epano Skala.

3D Images

Images

Skip to content