Taht el-Kale Mosque
Nicosia, Cyprus
A mosque has sat on this site in the Taht el-Kale neighborhood since soon after the Ottoman capture of Nicosia. The existing mosque and school were built in 1826-1827/1242 AH, when Es-Seyyid El-Hac Mehmet Aga, then the governor of Cyprus, had the deteriorating original buildings pulled down and the present buildings constructed. The cut-stone mosque sits on a platform within a garden enclosed by a wall of unquarried stone. Three buttresses support the building, and a shallow pitched roof over the prayer hall is supported by three internal arches spanning the interior space.

A portico at the front of the prayer hall consists of 3 rounded arched openings at the front, and one on each side. The minaret sits at the mosque's northeast side. The present minaret dates to 1949, replacing the original one that was demolished due to its poor, unstable condition in 1936. It is not an exact replica of the original; the current minaret is encircled by two moldings rather than the original three.

Repairs and restorations were made to the mosque in 1891, 1895, 1975, and 2003-2004.

Source:

Bağışkan, Tuncer. Ottoman, Islamic and Islamised monuments in Cyprus, 137-138. Nicosia, Cyprus: Cyprus Turkish Education Foundation, 2009.

Cyprus Civil Engineers and Architects Association (CCEAA) & Chamber of Cyprus Turkish Architects. "Tuzla Mosque." Accessed September 5, 2014. http://www.cyprustemples.com/templedetails.asp?id=430
Location
Nicosia, Cyprus
Images & Videos
Events
extant mosque and school built on site of earlier mosque, 1826-1827/1242 AH
Style Periods
1299-1922
Variant Names
Tahtagala Mosque
Variant
Tahtakala Mosque
Variant
Building Usages
religious
Materials/Techniques