Χαλίλ-Μπέη τζαμί (Παλιά Μουσική) - Ali Mechmet 30

History place

Historical place

Beautiful building.

Must

It was closed at Maghrib time forcing me and my family to read outside...

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 of June, 1913.

Unfortunately it is closed and out of service. The government of Greece would be better served if it would renovate it so that it is a legitimate tourist attraction & destination.

Visited September 2020. The streets are narrow so it was more enjoyable to walk up the gradual slope. The mosque was closed at the time I was there but they had information outside and you could still admire the buildings you just could not see inside. They put a lot of work in restoration.