Fetiye Mosque ΦΕΤΙΧΕ ΤΖΑΜΙ At The Roman Agora Of Athens
Known as the Fetiye Mosque, it was originally thought to be a 15th c. building, however, it is now dated to the second part of 17th c., built on the ruins of a three-part basilica mid-Byzantine church, at the northern side of the Roman Agora and close to the Tower of the Winds. During the Turkish occupation it was known as the Mosque of the Wheat Market.
The mosque is built following the «quatrefoil» or «clover-leaf-cross-in-square» architectural style, as it's wide center dome is supported by four foils in a cross layout.
Since 1834 when Greece regained its sovereignty and Athens became the capital of the newly formed Greek state, and through the first decades of the 20th c., it was used as a military bakery. Later on, it was mainly used as a stockhouse of archaeological findings from the Acropolis and the nearby Agora excavations. Due to the plethora of available building material at the time of its erection, the mosque incorporates architectural elements from the classical and byzantine times, among which one can see even ancient ionic pedestals.
With the exception of the removal of some of the most recent architectural additions and the return to it original state in 1935, the mosque had never before been fully renovated, while in 2010 it developed some serious static issues. In Autumn 2010 the Ministry of Culture had evacuated the several antiquities that were housed there from the building.
Fetiye Mosque opened to the public as a monument but also as a venue for exhibitions and events related to Athens and its monuments. The very first event was dedicated to a painting exhibition by high-school children on the «Sculptures of Parthenon», accompanied by an anthology of text material on the 19th c. Athens.
An old engraving depicting the Fetiye Mosque at the Roman Agora of Athens.