Mufti-Jami Mosque

Mufti-Jami Mosque
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Rite	Sunni
Status	Active
Location
Location	Feodosia
Territory	AR Crimea (de jure) Republic of Crimea (de facto)
Geographic coordinates	45°01′19″N 35°23′30″E
Architecture
Type	Mosque
Style	Ottoman architecture
Completed	1637
Specifications
Direction of façade	North
Dome(s)	1
Minaret(s)	1
Materials	Brick, Limestone

The Mufti-Jami Mosque, (Crimean Tatar: Müfti Cami, Ukrainian: Муфті Джамі, Russian: Муфти-Джами, Turkish: Müftü Camii) is located in a neighborhood of Feodosia, Crimea, sometimes called “Little Istanbul”[1] in the southwestern part of the old city.[2]

Structure

The main part of the building is a square plan of about 16 by 16 meters covered by a dome. The main entrance is from the north, with a portal framed by windows and mihrab niches; another entrance is from the west. Inside the building, facing the main entrance is a rectangular mihrab of about 7 by 3 meters. The minaret is at the northwestern corner of the building.[3]

History

The mosque was commissioned by a person named Mûsâ in 1623[4] and finished by 1639.[5]

The mosque was not destroyed during the Russian invasion of 1783, unlike most Ottoman-era buildings in the city.[6] After the invasion, the mosque was used as a Russian Orthodox church and later as an Armenian Catholic church.[7] Since the building was not in use as a mosque at the time, it survived the mass deportation of Tatars in 1944.[8]

Some restoration was done in 1967.[9] The interior walls had been decorated with hand-painted designs from its years as a church, but when the building underwent restoration in 1975, these were plastered over. The minaret was rebuilt in 1976 on its old base.[10] Restoration may have continued till 1980.[11]

The mosque was reopened for Muslim worship in 1995, and the designs under the plaster were brought into the open again.[12][13] Regular worship has continued since 1998.[14]

In the courtyard of the building are the ruins of a structure called a tomb. This may be one of the two places of pilgrimage (ziyaretgâh) mentioned by Evliya Çelebi, those of Şehid Baba and Şeyh Ebûbekir.[15] Around the mosque a few broken gravestones remain; other gravestones have been moved to the city museum.[16]

Photos

• 
  Mufti-Jami Mosque when it was a Christian church, photo 1897
• 
  Facade
• 
  Minaret

See also

• Religion in Crimea
• Islam in Ukraine
• Islam in Russia
• List of mosques in Russia
• List of mosques in Europe

References

1. Kançal-Ferrari, Nicole (2020). "Müftü Camii". TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). TDV İslâm Araştırmaları Merkezi. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
2. Saglam, Hasan Sercan; Veprytska, Kateryna (2016). "Preservation Problems of the Genoese Architectural Heritage at Black Sea Coasts: Turkey and Ukraine". Науковий вісник будівництва. 86 (4): 15. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
3. Saglam & Veprytska, p. 15.
4. Kançal-Ferrari.
5. Saglam & Veprytska, p. 15.
6. Kançal-Ferrari.
7. Kançal-Ferrari.
8. Kanlıdere, Ahmet (2016). "Kırım Tatarlarının Kültürel Kimliklerini Yeniden İnşa Çabaları" [Efforts to Reconstruct the Cultural Identity of the Crimean Tatars]. Karadeniz Araştırmaları (in Turkish) (51): 234. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
9. Saglam & Veprytska, p. 16.
10. Kançal-Ferrari.
11. Saglam & Veprytska, p. 16.
12. Kançal-Ferrari.
13. Saglam & Veprytska, p. 16.
14. Saglam & Veprytska, p. 16.
15. Kançal-Ferrari.
16. Kanlıdere, p. 238