Halil Bey Mosque — Attraction in Kavala Municipality

This ottoman mosque was build at the begining of the 20th century upon the ruins of a byzantine - medieval greek orthodox - christian basilica (church) which, according to a local, oral tradition was the church of Agia Paraskevi. The ruins of the church, together with christian tombs, are clearly visible around the building of Halil Bey mosque. The church was constructed and the 6th century with a continuation up to the end of the 14th century, when the Ottoman Turks invaded Eastern Macedonia in northern Greece and after a seige in 1391 they destroyed Christoupolis, which was the byzantine name of the modern city of Kavala. Then, probably some decades after the siege or later, when they refounded the city at the begining of the 16th century, they converted the church into a muslim mosque, as the Turks usually did in many cases in the ottoman empire. So the church continued its life as a mosque till the begining of the 20th century, when at the same place the modern mosque was erected. The modern mosque was renovated thanks to the efforts of the Archaeological Service of Kavala and now it is used for cultural purposes, for example lectures, small concerts e.t.c., not as a mosque. There are beautiful frescoes inside in the style of ottoman rococo. Kavala was the ancient greek city of Neapolis (founded on the mid of the 7th century b.c. by the Thasians) and the byzantine greek city of Christoupolis. After 1391, it remained under ottoman control till the first Balkan War in 1912, whan it was captured by the Bulgarians and was liberated by the greek army in the second Balkan War, 26th...

Οι μουσουλμανικοί πληθυσμοί καταλάμβαναν τα προνομιακά μέρη των πόλεων (τα ασφαλέστερα ή αυτά που παρουσίαζαν κλιματολογικά και τοπογραφικά πλεονεκτήματα) και μετακινούσαν τον ντόπιο χριστιανικό πληθυσμό σε άλλες περιοχές. Προφανώς αυτό έγινε και στην Καβάλα του 16ου αιώνα. Η θέση όπου βρίσκεται το τζαμί του Χαλίλ μπέη είναι όντως πλεονεκτική. Στο κέντρο της χερσονήσου, κοντά στο κάστρο (για καταφυγή σε περίπτωση κινδύνου), σε μέρος υψηλό και σχετικά επίπεδο και πάνω σε δρόμους που οδηγούν αφενός στην ακρόπολη και αφετέρου στις πύλες των τειχών της χερσονήσου. Όλα αυτά, ίσως και η ύπαρξη μεγάλου μεντρεσέ (ιεροδιδασκαλείου) στο συγκρότημα του τζαμιού, μας οδηγούν στη σκέψη ότι αυτή ήταν η περιοχή όπου πρωτοεγκαταστάθηκαν οι μουσουλμάνοι έποικοι και συγκρότησαν τον πρώτο μαχαλά.

Οι μαχαλάδες των οθωμανικών πόλεων αποτελούνταν από άτομα της ίδιας θρησκευτικής ομάδας, συγκροτούνταν και αναπτύσσονταν γύρω από ένα θρησκευτικό κέντρο (τέμενος, ναό, συναγωγή) και τα ονόματα των μουσουλμανικών προέρχονταν από το όνομα του δωρητή του τεμένους. Η συνοικία Χαλίλ Μπέη  αναφέρεται σε φορολογικό κατάστιχο του 1569 (δεν γνωρίζουμε βέβαια το μέγεθος και τα όριά της), κατά συνέπεια το τζαμί πρέπει να κτίστηκε την περίοδο της ανασυγκρότησης της πόλης, γύρω στα 1530.  Ήταν το δεύτερο σε μέγεθος και σπουδαιότητα τέμενος της Καβάλας (μετά το τζαμί του Ιμπραήμ πασά, τη σημερινή εκκλησία του...

KOMŞUDAYIZ/ KAVALA HALİL BEY CAMİİ

Halil Bey Cami Kavala’da tarihi bölge Panagia'da Mehmet Ali Paşa evi yolu üzerinde bulunuyor.

Cami, Osmanlı’nın tarihi dokusunu yansıtıyor.

Halil Bey Cami, özellikle iç mimarisinden övgüyle bahsediliyor.

Ancak bizim ziyaretimiz sırasında kapalıydı Camii, icerisini pencereden görebildik.

Halil Bey Cami’nin inşa tarihi kesin olarak bilinmiyor. 1530 yılında inşa edildiği tahmin ediliyor.

Halil Bey Cami’nin temelleri bir Hristiyan bazilikasının üzerine atılmış.

Yapı, çeşitli eklemeler yapılarak günümüze de ulaşan mütevazı şeklini almış.

Çevresinin Halil Bey sahası olarak adlandırıldığı alanda bir cami ve medrese bulunuyor.

Bu saha ve çevresinde bulunan Osmanlı evleri, caminin 16. yüzyıl dokusunu bir bütün olarak daha iyi yansıtmasını sağlıyor. Halil Bey Cami alanı içinde bulunan medrese sekiz odadan oluşuyor.

Medrese binası 1900’lü yılların başında kızlar için ilkokul olarak kullanılmış.

1930’lu yıllarda ise belediye bandosunun Halil Bey Cami’nde yer alması nedeniyle yapı ‘Müzikli Cami’ adıyla anılmış.

Halil Bey Cami’nin dış görünüşü oldukça sade.

Osmanlı ve Bizans kültürlerinin iç içe olduğu Halil Bey Camiyi mutlaka görün eğer...