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Restoration works continue at the historical Sultan Çelebi Mehmet (Beyazıt) Mosque in Didymoteicho

06.08.2024

ABTTF President: “It is the wish and desire of all of us that the restoration works, which began in 2022, five years after the fire in 2017, will be finally completed by the end of 2025, as indicated by the Minister. As we have expressed before, we hope that the restoration works will be carried out in accordance with the original form of the mosque and our six-century-old historical mosque, which is one of the most beautiful examples of our common cultural heritage, will be reopened for worship in 2026’’.

Restoration works continue at the historical Çelebi Sultan Mehmet (Beyazıt) Mosque in Didymoteicho in the Prefecture of Evros in Greece, where the entire wooden roof and most of the interior parts were destroyed in a fire in 2017.

According to the news report published in Ülkü newspaper, Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni examined the restoration works in the Çelebi Sultan Mehmet (Beyazit) Mosque on 5 August 2024. Mendoni, who delivered some statements during the visit accompanied by the President of the Region of Eastern-Macedonia and Thrace Christodoulos Topsidis, pointed out that the restoration works in the mosque should be completed by 31 December 2025.

Mendoni emphasised that the most important issue in this special project is the reconstruction of the wooden roof of the mosque and noted that this project, which is one of the largest wooden projects in Europe, should be closely monitored due to its complexity and restoration should be carried out in accordance with scientific and technical methods.

One of the most important Muslim Turkish monuments in the Balkans and Europe, the 600-year-old Çelebi Sultan Mehmet (Beyazıt) Mosque in the city centre of Didymoteicho is the first mosque built by the Ottoman Empire on the European continent. In 2017, the mosque was severely damaged by a fire and its unique wooden roof was completely destroyed. The restoration of the mosque is being carried out within the framework of a project prepared by the National Technical University of Athens and financed by the Rescue Fund.

“The fact that the Minister of Culture of our country visited Didymoteicho once again after last July and examined the restoration works at the Sultan Çelebi Mehmet (Beyazıt) Mosque, one of the most important cultural and architectural monuments in Europe, is extremely positive and shows the importance she attaches to the project. As ABTTF, we had requested an investigation into the fire that broke out in the mosque in our work before the United Nations and the Council of Europe and drew attention to the delays in the restoration of the mosque following the fire. It is the wish and desire of all of us that the restoration works, which began in 2022, five years after the fire in 2017, will be completed by the end of 2025 as indicated by the minister. As we have expressed before, we hope that the restoration works will be carried out in accordance with the original design of the mosque and our six-century-old historical mosque, which is one of the most beautiful examples of our common cultural heritage, will be reopened for worship in 2026’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).

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