Mosque Of Pasha Qasim (Pécs)
History
Standing at the highest point of Pécs's Széchenyi square, the mosque-turned-church is representative of the Turkish style of architecture in Hungary. It is thought to have been constructed in the second half of the 16th century, several years after the Ottoman occupation of Pécs in 1543. In the 1660s, the famous Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi praised the view from the mosque in writing.
A number of changes were made to the building between the 18th and the 20th centuries as part of the mosque's conversion to a Roman Catholic church. Its minaret was taken down after having been enlarged, leaving only the bulk (the octagon drum, covered by a dome, patterned after traditional Orthodox cathedrals) of the original structure remaining. Arc windows were set in two rows on the façades of the southeastern, southwestern, and northeastern sides of the building, in 3–3 and 4-4 patterns. Inside, some Ottoman decoration and inscriptions from the Qur'an are clearly visible in the remaining plaster parts. The Turkish pulpit and the women's balcony were destroyed, and the mihrab was removed (but later replaced). The two Turkish bathing basins before the sacristies (today, holy water) were taken from the former bath of the pasha next to the church.
References
- Rados Jenő: Magyar építészettörténet (p. 161–168) – 1961. Bp. Műszaki K. – ETO 72 (439) 091 (in Hungarian)
- Szerk. Fülep L.: A magyarországi művészet története (p. 371–372) – Bp.1961. Képzőmúv. Alap K. – Kossuth Ny. 61.3465. (in Hungarian)
- Goldziher Ignác: Az iszlám kultúrája – Gondolat K. Bp. 1981. – ISBN 963-280-607-7 (in Hungarian)
- H. Stierlin: Iszlám művészet és építészet – Bp. Alexandra K. – ISBN 963-368-127-8 (in Hungarian)
- H. Stierlin. Türkei – Architektur von Seldschuken bis Osmanen – Taschen Weltarchitektur – ISBN 3-8228-7857-X (German)
- ^ Pécs Lexikon, Ferenc Romváry, Pécs, 2010, pp. 98, ISBN 978-963-06-7919-0
External links
Media related to Mosque of pasha Qasim at Wikimedia Commons